13 Speaking to the Nurse

"Hello?" I answer, switching the call over to speaker.

"Hello, Sam, my girl. How did your talk with Ethan go last night?" Pa sounds hopeful, making me and Ethan both quietly sigh in relief that nothing was wrong with him.

"It went okay, I guess. We cleared up the misunderstandings and are moving forward from here." I switch the call back to private, making Ethan give me pout that he's being left out.

I roll my eyes and get up, grabbing a robe as Pa gives me his approval that we had made progress.

I go to the kitchen and get coffee started, as I ask Pa how he's doing.

"Oh, you know how that goes kiddo. I'm alright, I found some one to help out one day of the week with the animals, but I'm still talking to my friends, seeing who has a grandkid or great grandkid that can help me out the other two. So, when are you two coming home?" Pa seems eager to have us back, and I can't deny how much I want to go back home.

Home. I haven't felt like I've had a real home since my dad died. Yet, I know Pa's place is home for me.

"I'm not sure, Pa. I've got to give my work a two week notice, pack my apartment and see about getting my deposit and rent back, since I paid in advance. Ethan will most likely come back sooner since you need help." I inform him.

"Can I talk to Ethan? Is he there?" Pa's voice lowers an octave and I hurry back to the room, feeling something wasn't right.

"Yes, Pa. He's right here." I hand the phone to Ethan and Ethan talks to his Pa for a minute before he asking Pa what was the matter.

"Hello, Pa?" He turns the speaker on and we can hear movement going on from Pa's side.

"PA!" I shout into the phone when he still doesn't answer. "Do you think he's having another heart attack?!" I'm starting to freak out, when the shuffling stops on the other side of the phone.

"Hello? Hello?" A male voice comes over the phone.

"Hello, Who is this?!" Ethan demands.

The males voice with a slight attitude asks, "Excuse me? This is Nurse Hubet, Reed Hubet, I'm taking care of.."

Realization dawns on Ethan's face, "Oh! You're Pa's Nurse! Thank goodness! What just happened to my grandfather? We were talking and he seemed fine but then he was not speaking?" Ethan quickly asks.

"I'm sorry, you said you were his..?" Nurse Hubet inquires.

"I'm his grandson, Ethan, and if you checked his paperwork you'll know I am Jim's relative. Now, may I please know what's going on?" Ethan asks a little more calmly.

"Ah! Yes, Ethan. His paperwork does say you are next of kin. Well, did Jim inform you of his heart attack and his seizure that he had while at the hospital?" The nurse asks.

"Seizure!" Ethan and I both exclaim, in surprise.

"Uh...yes, is there some one else on the line?" Nurse Hubet drawls out his question.

Ethan is quick to reply, "Yes, my fiancé, Samantha. This is her number. I'm with her in California right now. Now, what happened just now?"

Nurse Hubet sighs, "He had a seizure, he's sleeping. This is normal, for someone to fall asleep after one. Especially, when he's already weakened from the heart attack. He has refused to take his medicine for the seizures, on the basis he doesn't like how they make him feel. I've called his doctor and informed him of this, but until the neurologist goes over his charts and we do a video or phone chat with him, he can not change the medication because of his heart medicine. That appointment will not be for at least another week...."

You can hear the shuffling of papers over the phone, before he continues, "They want him to use this medication for at least that long to see if it works. However, every time he refuses, we start the cycle over again. When he wakes back up, maybe you can convince him to take his meds, correctly?"

"Yes, I'll try to convince him. Why didn't he tell me about the seizure?" Ethan raises his brows at me in question.

I shake my head, because PA, he never told me either.

"I'm not sure, but most of the time it has to do with a persons pride. That they believe they are not as bad as a doctor says, or to not worry their family members. They like to deny or try to convince others that the doctors are making mountains out of mole hills or lying about how bad their health is. It's actually common after a serious health scare, especially if it includes involvement of the brain. Now, he may have a different reason, but I am guessing since you are so far away, he just didn't want to make you worry too much about him."

Ethan hums contemplating his words, letting the nurse continue on.

"Honestly, if you can talk him into taking his medication, he should be fine until you come back. You are coming back eventually, right? I mean, he did say you live here too, but I don't want to make assumptions either."

Ethan glances at me quickly, but directs his attention back to the phone. "Yes, I will be coming back, but we have some things we are taking care of here too. I'll make sure to tell him to listen to the doctor and take his meds though. If he gets too feisty, give Samantha a call at this number or me at my number." Ethan quickly gives the nurse his number, just verifying it with the one on Pa's information.

"One more thing before I let you go then, Ethan. Do you have someone that can come take care of the animals here? My son, Garret, comes with me when I'm working. However, school starts back up next month and he will not be able to help out then. I don't know if there's somebody you can call or hire, but I know that Jim has been stressing himself over those animals on the days we're not here. One of the other nurses showed up and he found Jim outside. He was attempting to use a cane to walk out to the barn to feed them. He lost his balance and fell, but the other nurse said he landed on a pile of hay. So nothing serious happened. I've talked to the others that come out already, and we all agreed that we will give the animals food and water. However, you will need to find someone soon, because we can not be away from Jim for too long. If something happens and they hear we were shoveling manure and feeding animals instead of being inside with our patient, we will lose our licenses." Nurse Hubet stresses his point to Ethan, who's nodding.

"I understand. I'll start calling some people to help out with the animals, immediately after we get off the phone. I appreciate what your son and all of you are doing for my grandfather. I'll try and make it up to you all somehow." Ethan thanks him and ends the call shortly after promising again to make sure we talk to Pa to take all of his medications.

Once Ethan hangs up, he puts his phone back on the charger and uses my phone to start making phone calls. He tries to make calls to people he knew that he could help out at the Ranch.

"Alright, I have the ranch covered for the next week. Should we start packing? I guess we should rent a truck for your furniture, if you want to keep it?" Ethan asks looking around.

"It's not really my furniture. This place came pre-furnished. All that's mine is the books, knock-knacks, clothes, pictures, bathroom items and some of the kitchen items. Everything can still fit in my dad's car." I inform him, looking around at my basic and sparsely decorated apartment. I had only unpacked a few boxes when I moved in, not having the motivation or heart to make this place permanent yet.

"I have to give my two week notice to my job, though. Which stinks, I kind of liked it there, they treated me well." I feel the frown and pinch of my brows that my face takes as I stare off at the wall.

"Two week notice? We can't stay two weeks. " Ethan is irritated, and not just at the time frame I just stated.