He nodded.
“Oh, hello Mrs. O’Leary.” Jacob smiled at the person behind me. It was his disarming, oh-so-charming smile that he used to use on teachers he wanted to get out of trouble with and girls he wanted to impress. “It's lovely to see you.”
“Dr. Matthews, it's always a pleasure,” my mom replied, blushing slightly. His smile could charm old ladies, that's for sure. And young ladies, too. “What are you helping Hannah with?”
“She thought there might be a raccoon in the tree out here.” He was a smooth liar. That was far better than anything I had in mind for why he was out under a tree.
“Really?” She turned to me and gave me a gentle swat on the arm. “You didn't say anything. You know your dad is always happy to help with that kind of stuff.”
“I, uh, I didn't want to bother him,” I replied. That's when I noticed that Jacob didn't have shoes on. He was barefoot in the dirt. I sent a silent plea up to the universe that my mother wouldn't notice. “So, Jacob. I mean, Dr. Matthews. I mean, Jacob. I need to go help my mom. Are you good here on your own?”
“You know the way to get rid of raccoons is to play talk radio at them all day and night. They can't stand the stuff. To be honest, neither can I. I would move out of someone's chimney if an angry man was yelling politics at me all night, too,” my mom said, not moving. She looked up at the tree and frowned. “I don't know if that would work outside, though.”
“I actually don't think there are raccoons,” Jacob replied. “Maybe just a squirrel. Or a bird.”
We made eye contact and he shrugged. I stifled an inappropriate laugh. Apparently there were squirrels in my tree. And birds. I felt so obvious that I was sure my mother would see right through both of us.
“A squirrel would be easier to deal with,” my mother agreed.
“Mom, we should go.” I tugged gently on her arm. I was afraid she would notice that Dr. Matthews wasn't wearing shoes. Or that he had sex hair and a twinkle in his eye that would give us both away. My mom always figured out my secrets. The last thing I wanted was for her to get close to this one.
“Right.” My mom flashed Jacob another smile. “Thanks for helping out my Hannah. Have a good evening, Dr. Matthews.”
“Bye, Dr. Matthews,” I chimed in, guiding her toward her car.
“Bye, Mrs. O’Leary. Bye, Hannah.” He leaned against his bike with a confident smirk that made me want to shake my head.
We had gotten so close to being discovered and somehow managed to escape notice. My stomach was twisting with fear of getting caught and the news that my dad needed me.
I made sure my mom got in her car and backed out before starting my engine. Jacob gave me one last wave as I left the man I was sleeping with to follow my mother back home.
Chapter 20
“Hey, Dad,” I said softly, coming up behind him.
He sat dozing in his easy chair in front of the TV. The news was on low, but he wasn't paying attention to the day's stock market prices. He snored slightly and then shook himself awake.
“Hannah.” He smiled a little, then frowned. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to check on you,” I told him, coming around and kneeling in front of his chair. I set my first aide kit on the floor next to me.
He looked pale, and when I put my hand on his, he felt clammy. Despite the air conditioning going in the house he was sweating, but had a blanket across his lap. I didn't like the slight wheeze in his voice when he spoke, either.
“I'm fine,” he assured me. “I just need some rest.”
“Mom told me you fell today,” I replied.
“I just got light headed. It's all those damn medications and the damn humidity right now,” he grumbled. “I just need some rest is all. I'm fine.”
“Okay. You rest, and I'll check you out.” I
He narrowed his eyes at me, and I thought he was going to protest. He opened his mouth and then just sighed. “Fine.”
It was a bad sign. My father was too tired to argue with me. This was a man that loved to talk politics, religion, farming techniques, and guns. The fact that he put up no resistance made my internal alarms go off.
He opened his mouth to say something, but instead of words just coughed. It sounded wet and heavy. He struggled to take a deep breath and for a moment, I was worried he'd stop breathing entirely. No wonder he was exhausted if just breathing took that much energy.
I opened my kit and pulled out my things to do a full nursing assessment. I had a blood pressure cuff, a thermometer, stethoscope, bandages, ace wraps, and all sorts of various creams in my kit. It seemed that once people found out I was a nurse, they always wanted me to check their blood pressure or look at a cut to see if it was infected.