Tempting Nashville's Celebrity Doc. Amy Ruttan

started to wash over her, warm like a cozy blanket.

      A blood-curdling scream made her sit bolt upright and run to the kitchen. Her mother was on the floor, clenching her wrist, which she held up. Vivian had an instant flashback to the day after her dad left... No ten-year-old should have had to see that.

      Snapping back to the present, Vivian rushed over to her mother.

      “Mama!” Vivian knelt down next to her.

      Her mother was in shock, shaking, eyes wild as she looked up at her. “Vivian? When did you get here?”

      * * *

      Reece cut through the emergency room. It was unusually calm tonight, which was never a good sign. Really he shouldn’t even be down here, but it was the quickest way to the parking lot from where he’d been in the hospital. He hadn’t planned on staying so late, but honestly there was nothing at home anyway.

      He’d been surprised that Vivian had asked him to set up the monitors and get her test ready. It wasn’t like her and he couldn’t help but wonder what was wrong with her.

      She’s not your concern.

      Still, it wasn’t like her, but then what did he know? He clearly hadn’t known her at all back then as he’d never thought she’d have been the person to leave him like she did.

      “Can I have some help?”

      Reece glanced up when he heard Vivian’s stressed voice coming across the emergency room. She was holding up a woman, blood over them. And then his blood ran cold when he saw that the woman was Vivian’s mother. He’d never told Vivian he’d met her mother; it had been brief, but that moment had been burned into his soul as the older woman had made it clear in a few words that she didn’t approve of his relationship with her daughter.

      “Don’t tie her down, Dr. Castle. Let her soar. She deserves the chance.”

      He shook that memory from his mind.

      And though he should let one of the ER doctors deal with it, it was instinct to help Vivian. He couldn’t leave her like that. Reece ran over.

      “Vivian?”

      “Reece?” She shook her surprise away. “It’s my mother. She had an accident.”

      He didn’t say anything about knowing her. He just hoped Vivian’s mother didn’t recognize him. “Let’s head over to the pod.”

      Vivian nodded and they guided her mother over to the room.

      “What happened?” her mother asked, bewildered. “Where am I?”

      “You’re at the hospital, Mama. You had an accident in the kitchen.”

      “Oh,” her mother whispered.

      Vivian shot Reece a pained look and just in that quick moment he understood. He’d been studying the disease for so long he could recognize it easily. And then he knew why she’d come back to Nashville and it surprised him. When she’d left he’d thought she was selfish; maybe she wasn’t after all?

      “Mrs. Maguire, I’m Dr. Castle. I’m going to help you.”

      Vivian’s mother nodded but she showed no sign she knew him. Reece examined the wound gently. It was deep and would need stitches.

      “Do you need me to do anything?” Vivian asked. She was pleading and he understood the need to do something. He wouldn’t be able to stand by and not do something.

      “No, I’ll take care of it. I’m going to sedate her, though. Is that okay?”

      Vivian nodded. “It’s for the best.”

      “Try and keep her calm.” Reece grabbed the drugs out of the locked drawer. Vivian stroked her mother’s hair and whispered to her gently. It took him off guard. He had never had that close relationship with his parents and never would. His father had died on stage, a lifetime of drinking and drugs having taken their toll on him.

      His mother had died two years before his father’s death. A car accident had taken her.

      They hadn’t been the best parents, and right now, watching Vivian, he was envious of what she had with her mother. It also made his heart melt a bit, seeing her so vulnerable.

      Don’t think about it.

      “I’m going to give you something for the pain, Mrs. Maguire.” Reece injected the sedative. “It’ll help.”

      Vivian’s mother nodded and then relaxed as she drifted off. Once she was out, Vivian started to help him as they inspected the deep laceration.

      “How did this happen?” he asked as he began to repair it.

      “In the kitchen with a knife, but I don’t know why. She hasn’t had violent tendencies.” He could hear the anxiety in Vivian’s voice. She was not telling him everything. Try as she might, he knew her, knew when she was lying to him, by the furrow of her brow and the fact she wouldn’t make eye contact with him.

      “What aren’t you telling me?” he asked calmly.

      “I told you all I know. I was in the other room,” she snapped.

      “Calm down,” he said gently.

      “You want me to calm down?”

      “Look, I just think there’s more to this than you’re telling me. You’re a horrible liar.”

      “Why do you think there’s more to this?”

      “There is a scar here, an old one,” Reece remarked. “That’s why I asked.”

      Vivian sighed. “It was a long time ago. I’m sorry. I don’t like to talk about it.”

      “Right. I forgot you don’t like to talk about the past.”

      “I’m not the only one.”

      He shot her a warning look, but she was right. “It’s okay, Vivian.”

      “I didn’t think...I mean. I don’t know what I mean.” There was a hint of sadness in her voice. Hopelessness when it came to this disease. He knew it well.

      “When was she diagnosed?” Reece asked.

      “Three months ago. Her doctor sent me the MRI. I finished up my affairs over there and headed here.”

      “I’m sorry.” And he meant it. He wouldn’t wish this disease on his worst enemy.

      Vivian nodded. “Thanks, and I would appreciate you not saying too much about this. I like to keep my private life and work life separate. I don’t care if people know she’s my mother, just not why she’s here.”

      “It’s me, Vivian. I understand about that,” he said gently.

      “I appreciate it.”

      “Well, that explains why you were so interested in my Alzheimer’s trial,” Reece remarked. “Which makes me feel better.”

      “Did you honestly think I would try and poach that?” she asked, hurt in her voice.

      “It’s a tough world out there. Lots of people hungry for opportunity.” Reece finished up his work. “You can’t blame me for being suspicious.”

      “No, I guess I can’t.” Vivian handed him the scissors. “I’m not interested in Alzheimer’s. That’s not where I’ve focused my papers. I’m a diagnostician. Plain and simple.”

      “And you’re here to diagnose Gary Trainer?”

      “One of the reasons, though, truth be told, I didn’t know about Gary until today.”

      They shared a smile—one he hadn’t shared with her in so long. It was nice. He’d missed it. It was nice just knowing what another meant without having to explain. He disposed of the suture kit and then began