0373011318 (R)

by Amy Ruttan

  He frowned at her. “Just bring it up. Don’t be so pedantic.”

  Vivian brought up the MRI and he leaned in closer. Her blood heated, her heart racing, and she tried not to think about what she’d just been thinking about because it all came rushing back to her right at this moment.

  His hands on her. His kisses.

  You broke his heart. You can’t have him.

  Only her body didn’t care. She wanted him. Just as much as the first time—and that was the way it had always been when they were together.

  “Yeah, looking at this, I can tell she’s the perfect candidate for this trial. She’s exactly what I’m looking for.” Then he looked down at her and moved away from her fast, as if he was stung. “Thanks for sending that to me.”

  “No problem. You made room for my mom in the trial.”

  He nodded. “As I said...”

  “I know, she’s the perfect candidate,” she said, finishing his sentence.

  “Well, I have to start my rounds soon and I’m going to grab some coffee.”

  “Okay, I’ll see Gary as soon as I catch some sleep and probably discharge him.”

  “All right. I’ll see you later.” Reece left and Vivian sank back in her chair. When she’d seen him again her heart had stood still, but being that close to him again... It was as if nothing had changed between them.

  Except it had.

  It was clear to her that he didn’t feel anything for her anymore and really there was no one to blame but herself.

  * * *

  He managed to avoid her for twenty-four hours. Physically, that was, but he couldn’t get Vivian out of his mind. Reece liked the floor in the early morning. It was quiet. He liked that sense of calm. He would like it even better if he hadn’t been up for over forty-eight hours. It had been a long time since he’d pulled a shift like this. Not since his days as a resident.

  That was when he didn’t have an option to really have sleep. Residents and interns were expected to run every test, every chart. They were the last to sleep. Vivian and he used to hang out in the halls when it was quiet, chatting and drinking endless cups of coffee.

  She had been his first true friend.

  Growing up as the son of Ray Castille, there were plenty of people around; it was just none of them were genuine. Vivian had been genuine.

  And then she’d become something more.

  He’d opened up his guarded heart to her—something he’d never done with anyone—and then she’d left. She’d left for Germany and it had torn him apart. He’d bared his soul to her during their six months together. Told her his secret hopes for the future. Things that he’d thought she wanted as they both had hard childhoods. Only seeing her with her mother made him wonder if that was actually true.

  Maybe he didn’t know her after all. He’d never known her. Maybe they weren’t the same.

  He told himself that he wasn’t going to get attached to her again, he’d keep his distance, but so far that was proving to be impossible. Especially when he worked with her in the OR. He’d forgotten how amazing they were together.

  How in sync they were.

  He’d let his guard down and fallen into an easy rapport with her. To the point that when he’d been looking at the MRI he’d leaned over her. The scent of her shampoo was the same as it had always been. Coconut.

  It reminded him of the first night they’d spent together and then the morning in the shower afterward.

  Running his hands over her body.

  He’d been her first. She had trusted him enough to let him be her first.

  “I love you,” he had whispered, overcome with everything he’d felt. Never wanting to leave the happy bubble of that moment.

  She hadn’t answered with words, but with a kiss.

  At the time, he thought that the kiss was the same as the words he’d told her.

  A kiss to say I love you.

  How wrong he’d been. He’d given his heart to the wrong woman.

  Don’t think about it.

  Why did she have to come back?

  He’d gotten over her.

  Actually, no. Who was he kidding? He was never over her. He’d just learned how to live without her.

  Reece stopped in front of her office. The door was open but it was dark.

  Just walk away.

  Only he couldn’t help himself. He peered inside and saw that she was lying on the couch in her office. Passed out. He could even hear her snoring.

  It wasn’t the kind of snoring that one might hear from a lumberjack. It was just a light gentle snore, one he was familiar with, and it made him chuckle softly because it hadn’t changed at all. All those nights together. He’d never known peace like that since those summers in Kentucky at his grandpa’s cabin. She moaned in her sleep and her brow furrowed. Reece smiled. He knew for a fact that those couches in Attending’s offices were not comfortable at all. They were terrible, but after being up for forty-eight hours the couch in his office was looking mighty fine indeed.

  “Dr. Castle, Gary Trainer’s managers are on line three,” Nurse Rodgers said from the charge station. “They want to speak to you and Dr. Maguire, but she’s not answering her phone.”

  “Okay. I’ll wake up Dr. Maguire and we’ll take the call in her office.”

  Reece gently knocked on the door. “Vivian?”

  She sat up. “What’s wrong?”

  “There’s a call on line three about Gary Trainer. It’s his management team and no doubt they want to know when we’re going to release him.”

  “What day is it?”

  “Thursday morning. His tests are done.”

  Vivian nodded and Reece answered the phone, putting it on speakerphone. “This is Dr. Castle and Dr. Maguire speaking.”

  “Yes, this is Buzz. Dr. Castle, I believe we’ve met, but I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Maguire yet.”

  “No, we haven’t met,” Vivian said, fighting back a yawn. “How can we help you?”

  “I was talking to Gary two nights ago, before you hooked him up to the machines. There was an incident?”

  “Yes, Mr. Trainer had a seizure and required a defibrillator to revive him.”

  “I know he wants out of there, but I can reschedule the Opry if you need to keep him,” Buzz said.

  “The problem, Buzz, is that he’s checked out. He’s been cleared by Cardio,” Reece said.

  “And Neuro?” Buzz asked.

  “The tests came back inconclusive. He’s doing fine and hasn’t had a seizure since Tuesday,” Reece stated. “His scans came back clean again. I don’t think we can keep him at the moment and he’s insisting that he doesn’t miss his show at the Opry.”

  “When do you plan to discharge him?” Buzz asked.

  “I want to run one more quick test and then I think by four in the afternoon,” Vivian said.

  “Okay, I’ll send around a car for him. Thank you.” Buzz ended the call and Reece disconnected Vivian’s phone.

  “You want to run one more test on him?” Reece asked. “When were you planning on discussing this with me?”

  “As soon as I woke up.” Vivian pulled her long red hair back into a ponytail. “Ugh, it feels like I got no sleep at all.” She moaned and stretched her back.

  Reece reached out instinctively and rubbed her back. “Those couches suck. You should’ve crashed in an on-call room.”

  “I intended to, but once I sat down I couldn’t get back up.” She stepped away from him. “Thanks, I think the kink’s out.”

  “Sure.” What’re you doing? “So this test?”

  “Something happened to Mr. Trainer on stage. He’s been cleared of almost everything, yet when he took my hand when we first met there was weakness. Something is going on and I just want to run one more small test, a little scan before I let him go to sing at the Opry.”

  “But his seizures weren’t induced by the bright lights or the loud music. We had him in a controlled environment for two days.”

 
“Exactly. How controlled is an arena full of fans?”

  Reece had to agree with her on that one. He remembered his father’s last concert. The screams from the fans were almost deafening. There was no way to possibly mimic the sounds and the feelings of being out on stage.

  If it was the concert in that huge arena that triggered Gary’s seizures, at least the Opry was smaller and more intimate.

  “Just one more test and if he passes we can discharge him,” she said grudgingly.

  “Well, that’s if he agrees to it. When I checked on him thirty minutes ago he was chomping at the bit to leave. Why do you think Buzz is calling this early in the morning? I’m sure Gary was calling him to bring around his car.”

  “Has he performed at the Opry before?”

  “Yes and there were no seizures.”

  Vivian bit her lip. “Yeah, but he’s been singing for a couple years and in stadiums.”

  “I thought you didn’t know who he was?” Reece teased.

  “I did my homework last night.” Vivian sighed. “He’s quite a rising star. They say he’s the next Ray Castille.”

  Reece’s stomach knotted at the mention of his father’s name.

  Don’t think about him.

  “So what is the point you’re trying to make?”

  “I’m saying that he’s been doing this for some time and never had a seizure before now. So what triggered these?”

  “That’s the question we’re trying to answer.”

  * * *

  Vivian didn’t like the idea that they were letting Gary go. He was her first patient back at Cumberland Mills and Dr. Brigham had made such a fuss about him. When Reece and she walked up to his room, he was already up and about, back in his street clothes. When Vivian suggested another test he shot her right down.

  “Look, I appreciate you two for saving my life, but I feel great. Perhaps it was stress related. I’m releasing an album later this week and I’m working hard for it to hit number one. The music industry isn’t the same as it once was when the likes of Hank Williams and Cash were walking around Nashville. It’s different. I’ve put in a lot of hours on social media and touring.”

  Vivian frowned. “If you think it’s stress, then you need to take it easy.”

  Gary grinned at her. “I can’t do that. As I said, I have an album dropping this week.”

  “Gary, we don’t know what caused your seizures and that’s troubling,” Reece said. “What harm could come from running just one more test?”

  Gary shook his head. “I appreciate it, Doc, I really do, but you had me hooked to those machines and I watched a flashing screen for hours and nothing happened. Nothing. I have to get back to work. I’m rested and I feel great.”

  Reece frowned at her. He was feeling the same way about Gary’s discharge as she was. Gary might think he was fine, and medical evidence supported that he looked good, but there was something off.

  There was something she couldn’t put her finger on, but she was powerless. They couldn’t keep a patient in the hospital against their will. Gary wanted to leave, so they had to let him go.

  “Okay, if you’re sure, Gary. If, however, you don’t start to feel like yourself then you need to get back here as soon as possible so I can assess. You have to promise me.” Vivian would’ve got it in writing if she could have.

  “I have an idea. I’m singing at the Opry tomorrow night. Why don’t you and Dr. Castle come, Dr. Maguire? That way you can be backstage and be on hand if something were to go amiss. Though I seriously doubt that.”

  “The Opry?” Reece tensed right up. There was an odd hitch to his voice. “You don’t need us at the Opry.”

  Vivian shrugged. “I’m game. I’ll go. I’ve never been to the Grand Ole Opry before.”

  “I thought I heard you were a Nashville native?” Gary asked skeptically.

  “I am. I grew up on the east side of Nashville.”

  Gary winced. “That’s a rough part of town.”

  “I don’t live there anymore, thankfully, so yeah, I never did get to the Opry. I guess everyone from Nashville has to experience it once.” Vivian looked over at Reece, but he wasn’t making eye contact with either one of them. He looked upset. Bothered.

  “Reece, are you okay?” Vivian asked.

  Gary paused in his packing to look up. “Doc, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  Reece scrubbed a hand over his face. “Nothing. Just tired. I still haven’t had a chance to have a nap.”

  “Well, go have a nap, but promise me, Doc, that you’ll be at the Opry.” He looked at Vivian then. “That both of you will be there.”

  “Come on, Reece. It should be fun,” she suggested.

  “I’ll think about it. If you’ll excuse me.” Reece left the room quickly without so much as a backward glance at them.

  Vivian frowned and then she knew. It was because Gary had invited both her and Reece. Reece probably didn’t want to go with her and that ticked her off. Not because he didn’t want to go with her, but because he was ticked that they were invited together. Just because Gary had invited them both didn’t mean Reece had to avoid it all together.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow night, Gary. Rest today.”

  “I will, Doc. Thanks.”

  Vivian left Gary’s room and headed toward her office. She found Reece sitting in an on-call room with the door slightly ajar.

  He shouldn’t avoid the Opry because she was going to be there. He could go and she could go separately. Just because they shared the same patient didn’t mean they had to travel together. He didn’t even have to stand beside her backstage. He could pretend he didn’t know her. He was acting childish.

  She didn’t even knock when she barged into the on-call room.

  “Why don’t you want to go to the Opry?”

  “I’m trying to get some rest,” he muttered.

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  Reece sighed. “It’s none of your business why I don’t want to go. I just don’t.”

  “It’s because I’m going, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Reece said quickly. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea if we went together.”

  “We don’t have to go together,” Vivian snapped. “Just because he invited us both doesn’t mean we have to arrive together or even talk to each other there.”

  “Are you finished?” Reece asked.

  “Yes, I think I am.”

  “Good. Close the door on your way out.” He didn’t say anything more to her. All he did was lie down on the bed, covering his eyes with his arm as if she wasn’t even there.

  His words stung, but what was she really expecting? So she shut the door behind her, trying to ignore the headache that was beginning to brew from lack of sleep, stress and frustration.

  When it came to Reece Castle, she was going to have to keep reminding herself that she could no longer count on him for much of anything. Not even the benefit of the doubt. Whatever they’d had, even if in a brief moment they’d shared something, that something was gone.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “IT’S OKAY, MRS. BOWEN. You’re okay. This is the MRI, remember?”

  “Oh. Right. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. Just relax.” Reece leaned back in his chair and the MRI tech started up the machine again. It was the second time that Vivian’s mother had begun to fidget and forced them to stop the machine. She needed to be reminded of where she was, why her wrist was bandaged and where her child was.

  She thought that Vivian was a little girl and she was calling for her constantly. Though Reece didn’t imagine that being in the machine with a mask over her face would ease her anxiety.

  Only Reece suspected it had more to do with the fact she was looking for her child. A mother who loved her child. He wouldn’t know much about that...

  He’d run away once. Hid in his tree fort for two days. No one had looked for him. No one had cared he was gone. When he’d gone back to the house, his parents
acted as if he’d never left. They hadn’t noticed his absence.

  He was always an afterthought.

  Vivian had told him she’d grown up alone like him, but he didn’t believe it. Not now. Not now he’d seen the way that Vivian cared for her mother and the way Sandra obviously cared for her.

  “Images are up, Doc,” the MRI tech said.

  Reece leaned over. “Damn. Can we get a deeper scan? Add some contrast.”

  The tech nodded. “Sure.” And he got up to administer the gadolinium.

  The Alzheimer’s was progressing quickly and it was going to be hard to tell Vivian that. Even though she should understand logically, given the fact that she was a neurosurgeon as well, he found that when it came to themselves or their loved ones doctors were the worst patients. It was going to crush Vivian.

  And after the way he’d treated her about the Opry invitation, he didn’t want to be the further bearer of bad news. Besides, he should be here, working on his trial. Not gallivanting around Nashville.

  Going with her to the Opry wasn’t the reason why he didn’t want to go. It was the fact that he would be recognized if he did go. His father’s pictures lined the halls with the greats at the Grand Ole Opry. It was the Mecca to country music.

  Everyone who was anyone in the country music scene was at the Opry on any given night and all of them would know exactly who he was—and he didn’t like that one bit.

  When Vivian had suggested she was the reason why he didn’t want to go to the Opry he hadn’t argued with her. He’d let her believe it and then he’d regretted it. He didn’t really want to hurt her.

  Even if when she’d first left all those years ago he’d thought about hurting her the same way she had hurt him, but that was when the wounds were still raw and he was younger. Watching her in the OR the other day had made him realize that she’d probably done the right thing going to Germany.

  He didn’t want to inflict pain on her, but he didn’t want to tell her why he couldn’t go to the Opry.

  People in the medical circle didn’t know him from Adam. He was just a damn good surgeon and he wanted to keep it that way.

  Once Gary or Vivian learned whose son he was, they were going to look at him completely different.