Caretaking Late Nights Are So Much More Than That

I work nights as a caregiver for an elderly lady. She's in her eighties and completely blind. I've been taking care of her for about six months now, since she moved into the assisted living place where we both are. It started off just being about feeding her at night when no one else was around to do it, keeping her comfortable during the wee hours. Then she began asking me all sorts of strange questions as soon as I got there in the evening. She asked if I thought a certain young man would be interested in her if they met now that she's older and blind. At first I just laughed and told her not to worry about it, but then one night she said something really odd: 'You're so strong and responsible. Are you sure you don't want to take care of me like a mother takes care of a child?' She smiled after that, but I felt weird. I didn't think too much of it at first. Then another time, she called me into her room late one night when no one else was around and gave me this strange look. 'You know,' she whispered to me, 'you remind me a bit of the caretaker from my past - but you're even better because I can trust you.' She grabbed my hand then and held it tight. That's when things got weird. The next week she started acting...different around me. Like there was something going on in her mind about our relationship that wasn't exactly care-giving anymore. But what could it be? It made me uncomfortable, but I couldn't turn my back on her either - even if she was being confusing as hell. One night a few weeks after the hand-holding incident, we were sitting by the window in her room and talking quietly about nothing much at all. She suddenly reached out for me again and pulled me close to whisper: 'Sometimes I forget how young you are.' Then, as if it wasn't strange enough already, she leaned over and kissed my cheek before pulling back like nothing happened. I've been struggling with what's going on ever since that kiss. I feel so torn between keeping her safe in a caretaker role versus something else entirely. And yet every night when I see her smile as if everything is okay...it makes me wonder just how far this could go. But caring for someone and having some kind of strange affection - it's confusing, to say the least.