19 Marks sister

We enter the mudroom off of the kitchen and both here a male holler from down the hall, "Just a minute! I'm giving Jim a shower!"

Mark gives me a look and I quickly place a mic on top of the fridge and then a camera up on a shelf pointed towards the living room. We move out towards the living room and Mark sits on the sofa, while I move to a chair near an outlet that conveniently point down the hall towards grandpas room and the stairs. I plug it in and sit back in the chair, my heart racing a million miles a minute.

I'm tempted to pull out another mic, but my hesitation is rewarded as the nurse steps out of the bathroom, rushing towards Jim's room. He comes back out a moment later, carrying some of Jim's pajamas, looking flustered.

He nods in our general direction before going back into the bathroom. A few minutes later, he comes back out, as Jim pushes a walker out of the bathroom, slowly making his way to his bedroom. The sight of Jim with a walker tugs my heart strings, making me want to jump up and run to him.

I stay where I am when I exchange a look with Mark, his eyes hold a deep sadness and his lips thin, restraining his thoughts that I see rolling behind his eyes.

After a minute, the nurse comes back out, gives Mark a light smile and a nod, turning his attention to me.

"Hey, Mark, so this is your sister?"

Mark stands, so I do too, as he informs the nurse, "Yes, my little sister Samira, she's visiting for a few days."

The nurse sticks his hand out for me to shake, "Hello Samira, my name John Shaw, I'm Jim's nurse this morning."

I shake his hand in return, "Hello, John. Please just call me Sam. How is Jim doing today?"

John sighs, "He is doing good, still working on getting his strength back. That's normal though for his age after a heart attack. As long as he takes his meds we see improvement."

"Is he not taking his meds like he should?" I ask concerned.

"Well, he does good with me, but Nurse Hubet and him do not get along or something. You'll have to talk to him about that though. You're more than welcome to go visit with him, I'll just be doing my charting here in the kitchen." He motions for us to go back as he heads to the table.

Mark whispers to me as we head down the hall, "He seems decent, it's that one he was talking about that I don't like either."

I grimace at the fact that even Mark does not care for this Hubet. Then for even this nurse Shaw to mention that him and Pa do not get along...

We walk into Jim's room and Jim's eyes widen in surprise, "MARK! SAM!" He exclaims.

I lift a finger to my mouth and go give him a hug, "Jim!" I notice his hearing aid is in, so I say into his ear as clearly as I can but as soft as I can, " We want to catch the fucker that is stealing from you, give us a few days to get something on him. I'm Marks sister Samira for now." I lean back and give him a wink which he catches and holds my arm tightly.

"Mark you should have told me you were going to be bringing your little sister! I would have dressed properly, not be sitting here in my pajamas." Jim responds, a brow raised passing between us.

Mark shrugs, "I wanted it to be a surprise." He walks over to the other side of Jim's bed, out of view of the doorway and pulls out the amplifier for the mic's signal from his pocket. He points to his ear and the amplifier, before placing it on a shelf behind a few books. The amplifier would help us hear from the other house. The cameras we would have to collect and switch out with new ones, if we need to.

Jim smiles, "You sure know how to surprise a old man. Come here, my girl. Tell me how have you been doing? How was your trip here?" Jim pats his bed for me to sit and as I tell him as much as I can with out giving anything away.

Behind me, Mark puts a mic on top of a picture frame on the wall, and tries to figure out where to put a camera. Jim points to a high shelf that has a few Knick-knacks that we could blend it in with.

I whisper to Jim, "We need to put some upstairs."

Jim's eyes widen in realization, that we would need an excuse to go upstairs. He sat there trying to think of a reason for us, as Mark put a mic carefully behind a picture frame near the bedside table.

We hear John's footsteps coming down the hall towards us, so I quickly ask, "Is there anything I could do to help you, Jim? I could do some house cleaning if you would like?" I wink quickly, right as John enters the room, but my back is to him so I was not worried he saw the hint.

"You know, Sam, I would appreciate that. No ones cleaned the upstairs for a little while. Shouldn't need more than a sweep and a dusting, but a woman's touch around here would be greatly appreciated." Jim smiles patting my cheek with his hand, his eyes twinkling with affection and a touch of mischief.

"How thoughtful. Do you know where the cleaning supplies are?" John inquires, bringing over his vital signs monitor, readying himself to take Jim's vitals.

"Umm... Under the sink, right?" I ask Jim, making it seem I was guessing.

Jim nods, "Yes, and the broom is in the laundry room, where you'll find a bucket and cleaning towels. I really appreciate you darling." He offers the nurse his arm and I stand to go get the cleaning stuff.

"Well, I better get started then. Are you going to finish taking care of the animals, Mark?" I turn to him, and he just nods, heading towards the door.

"We'll come spend more time with you Jim, when we get done." Mark says over his shoulder and I follow him out to the kitchen. He heads out and I grab the bucket, towels and broom from the laundry room. I fill the bucket with warm water, dropping a couple of towel into it with some of the Murfy wood soap from under the sink.

I haul the broom and bucket up the stairs, careful not to slosh the water on the steps. I enter into Ethan's room first, placing a mic with the wires on his computer desk, and a USB charger hidden camera in one of the sockets. I wipe down the desk and shelves quickly. Then sweep the dust bunnies out into the hall.

In the guest room, I put the last camera I had, carefully, on top of one of the picture frames up on the shelf that I wiped down. I place a mic under the clawed foot lamp, cleaning up any dust I find. I sweep the dust out into the hall again, and finish up by wiping down the bathroom. I have one mic left, and I sneak it onto a picture frame, wiping it down gently to hide the action.

I swept up the dirt and dumped it in the trash in the bathroom, taking a damp rag and wiping the banister railing on my way down. I dump the water down the sink in the laundry room, and rinse out the cleaning towels.

I turn around and jump in fright, "Oh shit! You startled me!" I exclaim, clutching my chest and give an embarrassed giggle.

"My apologies, I didn't mean to scare you." John scratches the back of his neck, looking abashed.

"It's alright. Did you need something from in here?" I ask.

"Uh, no, I was just checking on you. So you're here visiting?" He asks me, leaning his body towards me by shifting his weight on to one of his legs.

"Um, yeah, I needed to come back home and recharge, take a break from classes." I smile and walk to the kitchen sink to wash my hands and he follows me with his gaze.

"What classes are you taking?"

"Um... Photography?" I say through a strained smile, making it sound like a question.

John laughs, "Why do you seem so unsure about your classes?"

I turn around with a flushed face, "A lot of people do not think photography is a profession that requires a lot of school or is thought to be a stressful course or job." I shrug.

He nods, "That makes sense, I guess you're right. So when you finish what are your plans? Gonna come back home and take family portraits or do freelance?" He casually leans against the counter, his arms slightly flexing, displaying toned, strong muscles beneath his scrubs, stealing my attention for a moment.

I glance back up to his face, which now has an amused glint in his eyes. Heat starts to flood my face as I stumble my words at first, "I...um... yeah... something like that. I mean no, not family portraits, more of the freelance photography."

'What the fuck, Samantha! SERIOUSLY?! You're with Ethan, who is probably hearing this conversation too! Pull yourself together!'

John nods, smiling smugly, "That's cool. I would love to see some of your work sometime."

That compliment sets my face afire even more, and I nod, squeaking, "Alright." I clear my throat, "I'll bring some tomorrow, when I come to help Mark. Do you mind if I get a drink?"

'Kill me now! I sound like a bumbling high schooler who's crush just complimented them. I'm going to have to explain this to Ethan thoroughly, later.'

"Of course. Tomorrow will work for me. I better go finish my tasks before Reed shows up." John smiles and nods, heading out of the kitchen back to Jim's room.

I down the water and set the glass in the sink. I see Mark working on the horses hooves, cleaning and clipping them. The dogs run around eating the pieces of the horses hooves that Mark tosses away. I grimace in disgust, shaking my head as I turn to head to Jim's room, but stop myself.

'John said he's getting ready to switch out with Reed... I don't want to spend unnecessary time in the room while John is there... I'll go talk to Mark and give him the info about my 'college classes'. That way our stories are the same.'

I exit the house and glance towards the truck as I approach Mark.

"Hey Mark, I'm done inside, I told John I was going to college for photography and needed a break. But I thought you should know, John seems to be testing the waters with me, subtle flirting kind of things, and he also told me, Reed is on the way."