20 Nurse Hubet

Mark stands, cracking his back, "Alright, do me a favor and put the dogs up in the kennel. I'll clean this up and we will go visit with Jim. I'd rather us both be able to leave soon. He's more liable to slip up if he's alone."

I nod and whistle, calling the dogs to me who are out running around, chasing rabbits away from the feed troughs. They stop in their tracks and I whistle again, making them run my way. They come barking, jumping, and loving all over me, knocking onto the grass.

"AH! Tucker! Rocket! Stop it!" I laugh as I'm covered in excited, happy, dog kisses. My hands cover my face so I'm not completely covered in dog slobber, as they sniff and lick, then bark and take off.

"Wow, they really like you." John walks up to me laying on the ground, and I can only imagine how I look.

Mark comes walking over laughing, "Of course they do. We used to play with them when they were both puppies. They know us pretty well."

I go to stand, when a hand is offered to me. I look up at John who just chuckles at me.

"What? You're the one covered in dog slobber, not my hand." John says as I eye his hand.

I take it and stand up, giggling once up, "Not anymore, it's not." I slide my hand from his grip as he looks with disgust at his slime covered hand. "You offered the help." I smirk, turning and whistling for the dogs to come back and I move them to the kennel.

John starts talking to Mark about making lunch, wanting to know if a turkey sandwich and soup was good enough for us. We head into the house, wash up and I go to spend time with Jim, while Mark occupies John's attention in the kitchen.

I quickly explain to Pa everything that we're doing to catch Nurse Hubet, either in the act of something, or saying something we can use against him.

"You just need you to hold out for another day or two, Pa." I hold his hand firmly, my eyes watering that we are having to ask this of him, when it's obvious he's ready to have Ethan kick that man out of this house.

"Sam, my girl. Do me a favor and have Ethan check my accounts. Stop anything that seems suspicious." Pa quickly says to me as Mark hollers down the hall.

"Hey sis! Lunch is hot!"

"Coming!" I shout back, then lean over and hug Pa tightly. I peck his cheek as John walks in with a bed tray and his own lunch. He sets down a small cup with some pills in it in front of Jim first.

"Take your meds first, Jim. Then you won't have to fight with Reed later." John suggests.

Jim takes the pills, looking at them first before swallowing them.

"What kind of meds are those?" I ask as Jim takes a drink of his water.

John shrugs, "Normal for heart patients, a beta blocker, Aspirin, anti-coagulant, a water pill, and some vitamins."

"Huh, what about seizure medication?" I inquire.

"Seizure medication? Well, I guess one or two of those would work with something to help with blood flow if someone had seizures, but nothing in particular. Why?"

"I thought Mark had mentioned something about a seizure, I guess I was wrong." I shrug, give Jim another peck on the forehead and head to the kitchen table. John joins us as we eat the hot sandwiches and drink the soup. After we finish, John starts to ready the sink to wash the dishes, and I offer to go grab Jim's stuff.

He's dozing, sitting up with his head to the side, a soft snore escaping him. I let out a soft, tender laugh, pick up the tray and quietly head to the kitchen. I stop when I hear Mark and John speaking softly.

"...so is your sister seeing anyone?" I hear John ask Mark.

"Yes, she is." Mark says bluntly, sounding like a protective big brother.

"He's good to her? They're good together?"

Mark sighs, "Yes, they are great together. Yes, he's good to her as far as I know, he always admits that he's a lucky man."

John replies, "Sounds like you approve of him."

Mark retorts, "Sure do."

I walk into the kitchen at this point, acting as nonchalant as possible.

"Here's Jim's dishes. He fell asleep." I inform them as the front door opens, letting a man in scrubs in with short blonde hair, a reddened, alcoholics face, and a pot belly.

"Oh, Reed. We just finished lunch. Jim took his meds for me and is now sleeping." John dries his hands and picks up his charts to discuss his job with his replacement.

Nurse Reed Hubet.

I finish up the dishes, drying them before putting them away, making sure I open a few wrong drawers and cabinets. I can feel nurse Hubet's eyes on my back, and it's making my skin crawl.

Thankfully though, John waves me over to him, "Reed, this is Samira, Mark's sister. She came to visit and help out around here, too. Jim likes 'a woman's touch' with the cleaning around the house."

I roll my eyes with a smile, but nod, "Hello. Nice to meet you."

I feel my skin crawl as he licks his lips, eyes going over my body. I do not want to even think about what he may be thinking. I keep my smile on my face, even though I want to slug this asshole who's making me feel dirty with the way his filthy gaze finally comes up from my chest to my face.

"Nice to meet you too, Samira..." He pulls his expression into a more professional one, as Mark comes to stand beside me.

"Come on, sis. We're done for the day and I still have to handle things back at the house. We will see you folks tomorrow. Thanks for lunch, John." Mark makes our excuses and turns to Reed Hubet.

"Nurse Hubet." He says as a way of departure, as I awkwardly wave bye and follow him out to the truck.

I notice John is entering his vehicle as we start the truck up and head down the road.

"You may want to go ahead and act like you're driving to your house. John is right behind us." I mention.

"I see him. Don't worry." Mark says quietly.

I turn around and look over my shoulder, where Ethan still hides under the sunshade and saddle blanket.

"Here, babe," I reach over and move the shade and saddle blanket off of him, "it must have been uncomfortable in here."

Ethan gives me scowl, putting his finger to his lips, as he listens with his earbuds to the sounds on the mic.

I mumble, "Sorry..," as I turn back to face the front.

We drive along reaching the highway, Mark turning to head toward the next town instead of going towards the back road to the other house. Mark takes a left off the road, driving on a dirt road I've never been down before. I notice John's car pass by on the highway, still driving towards town.

Ethan pops up, "I'm losing the signal, don't drive any farther."

Mark slows down and turns around, driving back to the highway but not pulling out on to it yet. When John's car is just a distant speck on the highway, Mark gets back out onto the highway and heads to the back road to get to the back house.

"Where did you put the all the mics?" Ethan asks, going through his phone.

"We put one in the barn, along with a camera, then top of the refrigerator, one is in the living room, along with a camera too. We have one in Pa's room, that's where the amplifier is too." Mark informs him.

I finish off by letting him know about the others. "There's a mic upstairs in the hall, in your room, the guest room, and the bathroom. Camera's are in your room and the guest room."

Ethan's tension is evident in his shoulders as they raise with his deep breath. He lets it out slowly, grunting, "Damn it. I don't know which mic is which. What order did you place them? I'm hearing something going on, but I don't know where."

We told him the order, the best we could and he continues to listen. Once we arrive at the house, Ethan sets up his laptop, handing over ear buds to me and Mark.

We sit there and listen the rest of the day, marking down times that need to be checked against the cameras and times that if we can't catch him stealing, we can inform the healthcare office that he talks down and belittles his patients. All three of us have to sit and clench our fists hearing him talk to Pa like he was garbage and a burden.