*Everyone in the story's older than 18, all legal adults.*
"Everything's all right, Miss Mabel. You're fine," Ashley said as she sat the old woman on the edge of the bed.
"Who... who was that strange man?" There was concern, something close to panic on Mabel's wrinkled face.
"He's not going to bother you, Miss Mabel. You can rest and everything will be fine." Ashley held the woman's fragile frame, supporting her as she lowered down onto the bed. She didn't bother to explain that the "strange man" was Mabel's husband or that they'd lived together close to sixty years now. Mabel couldn't understand that anymore, and if she did understand, she wouldn't remember. There was no point to having this conversation again.
"Is my husband coming home soon?"
"He'll be here before you know it. Don't worry about a thing." Ashley kept her voice calm and soothing, again not bothering to explain that he was just in the next room or that the couple had spoken only minutes before.
She wrapped the blankets around the elder woman's body, seeking as much warmth and comfort as they could provide.
"How did the photos turn out?"
"They're absolutely perfect." There's a skill to lying to people in this way, going along with whatever the person says in order to mollify them. Ashley didn't know what photos Mabel was talking about. Her answer was simply what Mabel needed to hear in that moment. She closed her eyes and settled into the soft pillow. Whatever she said next came out as a quiet mumble through mostly closed lips. Ashley nodded in sympathetic agreement and lied again. "That's right, Miss Mabel. I'll be sure to let them know."
She sat down in the chair beside the bed, watching the old woman in silence. She waited for the slow and steady breathing that told her Mabel was asleep before she stood up and walked out of the room. She left the door open in case her patient woke up and needed anything.
From experience, Ashley knew that wasn't very likely. Mabel was a heavy sleeper and the rest of Ashley's shift would probably be quiet. She did, however, want to go check on Keith. Her heart broke for Mabel's husband. Watching your spouse slowly leave you is always hard. She'd worked with clients who could remember their partner even if they'd forgotten everyone else. Life had not been so kind to these two.
Ashley walked silently through the hallway, another thing she was good at. The living room, where Mabel's most recent episode occurred, was empty. She called his name softly then looked down another hallway at the opposite end and saw the light coming from one of the rooms.
She'd never been in this part of the house before, but she walked that direction and found the man sitting in a padded chair in the center of a small office, staring fixedly at something on the wall. She addressed him with the same soft, soothing voice she used with Mabel, "Hey, Mr. Keith. How are you feeli..." Her words were cut off by what she saw.
The framed poster was large, the size that might be outside of a movie theatre. The image was a high resolution black and white photograph of a naked woman. Curled hair rested on her bare shoulders and framed her face, where she wore a huge, flirty smile aimed directly at the camera. Ashley could imagine the woman winking at the viewer just moments before or after the photo had been taken. Her body was gorgeous, with flawless skin and full, perky breasts. Her tummy was curved just enough to indicate toned muscle. Her legs were crossed at the knee, but shortly-trimmed, dark pubic hair was visible above her thighs.
Ashley's jaw hung slightly open as she processed the sight. Keith, by contrast, had a sad, wistful expression on his wrinkled face. "My girl's sure pretty, isn't she?" Ashley noticed a logo in the bottom right corner of the photograph. Like words that might appear at the top of a fashion magazine, they read, "MARVELOUS MAE."
Ashley's eyes went back to the nude woman's flirty expression. It took her only a moment to recognize those eyes. "That's Mabel."