Unfamiliar surroundings

Dan woke up twice in the middle of the night. The first time, he thought he heard something moving around the room. It took a moment for his brain to register the sounds. He used the flashlight on his phone to look around the room only to realize what he'd heard. What he took to be the sounds of someone walking, was really a bed downstairs creaking. After getting back to sleep, he woke up again an hour later when an uncomfortable heat woke him. His mother had snuggled up to his side in her sleep, her back and butt to him.

"Are you alright, dear?" his mother's muffled voice asked as he rose from the bed to answer the call of nature.

"Yeah, go back to sleep," Dan called back. He looked over his shoulder and saw his mother, curled up on her side facing the bathroom door. Darkness hid most of her form, but the predawn light filtering through the half-closed blinds illuminated her form. She'd come part of the way out of the oversized shirt during the night. One breast was almost completely out of the shirt.

"Going to take a shower," he called and tried to look away.

"M'kay," Laura groaned as she shifted on the bed. Inadvertently, she pulled the sheet closer to her, hiding her exposed flesh once more.

Taking a cold shower was not amusing. Any hopes for having a good day were dashed the moment Dan realized no matter how long he waited for the water to heat up, it never would. Using the rough dollar soap, he washed as quickly as possible, cursing his bad luck.

"Oh, fuc..." he growled when the next problem with his morning routine became obvious. He only had his mother's towel to dry off with. The wonderful motel clerk hadn't left anything in the rooms for his guests.

The piercing cold made the decision up for him. He took the towel his mother bought and quickly dried off as fast as he could. Before he was completely dry, he put on the clothes he wore the previous day. The water made his shirt cling to his body but it at least provided some warmth.

"Dear?" Laura called. "Are you out of the shower yet?"

"Hey, sorry, I used your towel," Dan answered through the door as he ran his fingers through his wet hair.

"Oh... I can wait on a shower. Uh, I need to go," she continued in a quieter voice.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm getting out now," Dan called. He remembered his mother mentioning her tiny bladder after her pregnancy with him.

Standing by the bed, Laura all but rushed into the bathroom, knocking Dan aside. She didn't even have the presence of mind to close the door behind her as she ran to the tiny toilet. Dan closed the door behind him and moved over to the bed, his wet feet slapping against the rough carpet.

"I don't even want to think about what I might be stepping on," he groaned as he sat on his side of the bed.

A few minutes later, his mother appeared in the doorway, holding her oversized shirt up to cover her modesty. "Sorry," she apologized. "I'd been holding it for as long as I could."

"Hey, I understand. I hate using the bathroom at work and will hold it until I get home sometimes."

Laura gave him a wan smile. "It's still early," she sighed. "Too early to call the insurance company."

"We might be able to try the Red Cross hotline," Dan suggested. "If you want, you can make that call while I go back to the dollar store. I need to get you another towel... and maybe a new pack of shirts?"

A flush crossed his mother's cheeks as she took a seat on her side of the bed. "Uh, yeah, that would be smart. Can you get a size smaller as well? I... overestimated how large these were. Just a pack of extra larges."

"No problem, is there anything else while I'm out?"

Laura glanced toward her purse. "Breakfast if we can swing it," she answered after a moment.

"I'll see what I can do."