Sophia was opened wide in front of Katherine, and she liked it. “I can see inside of you now. I can see everything.

  How does it feel, my darling?”

  “I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my cunt,”

  Sophia said in response. “I am so turned on.”

  Katherine had a stethoscope around her neck, which she put in place in her ears. “I’m going to use my stethoscope to check for the heartbeat in your beautiful cunt, Sophia.”

  Sophia wriggled, but Katherine inserted the head of the stethoscope into Sophia’s sweet warmth and used her fingers to position it against the opening of Sophia’s vagina.

  There was a damp wetness that helped transfer sound to her ears. Katherine could almost hear the pulsing Sophia spoke of. She knew Sophia was on the very edge, so she reached her right hand around under Sophia’s hip to touch her slippery clit with the speculum still in place. Then Katherine spat and dribbled saliva down into the crack of Sophia’s ass.

  “Now, I’m going to touch your clit and make you cum while my fingers are inside your ass. Is that what you want?”

  she asked.

  “Yes . . . yes please.”

  Katherine ran the fingers of her left hand through her saliva and lightly teased Sophia’s anus. Sophia’s whole body shook in anticipation. The fingers of Katherine’s right hand were underneath Sophia, slipping around her clit. As Katherine pushed her finger into Sophia’s ass, she felt the

  hard metal of the speculum through the thin wall that separated ass from her vagina.

  Sophia went crazy beneath Katherine, crying out and breathing heavily, her arms still bound above her. As Katherine added a second finger, Sophia orgasmed hard underneath her.

  17

  Vivienne was feeling grumpy with Hollis, who frowned down at her daughter. “Well, now you’ve done it,”

  came Karen’s voice, as Hollis’s frown deepened. They had been out shopping for a dress because Vivienne’s Junior High Prom was tonight. Vivienne had been ecstatic to go because Eric had asked her.

  They had gone to one mall after another, not quite finding the perfect dress. Now they were standing in front of the store they had just been kicked out of, where Vivienne had finally made some progress and had even liked a few dresses.

  “What? You saw the way he was flirting. He deserved it!”

  Hollis defended herself, as Vivienne placed her hands on her hips and glared at her mom.

  “He was just flirting! Not doing anything else. And it was completely harmless. You didn’t have punch the life out of him!” Vivienne exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air in frustration. Karen only snickered as Hollis threw her a glare over her shoulder.

  This made Karen laugh even more. Rolling her eyes, Hollis turned her attention to Vivienne. Her hazel eyes ablaze and nostrils flaring, Vivienne definitely had Hollis’s temper.

  Sighing, Hollis reached out to wrap her arm around Vivienne’s shoulders. “I’m sorry, baby,” she said. Vivienne only made a face in response and muttered something about overprotective mothers. They entered another store where Vivienne’s eyes lit up, her previous anger forgotten as she hurried towards the prom dresses to feel the fabric.

  “Vivienne?” a voice said, and Vivienne was face-to-face with Ava. Vivienne’s lips spread widely as she greeted the woman. “Hi Ava!” she said to her, watching her two moms come to stand behind Ava. “What are you doing here?”

  Vivienne asked.

  “Lisa has a date tonight and she’s been dragging me on a dress hunt,” Ava said, frowning a little before smiling again.

  Hollis coughed behind from Ava, making her turn around.

  “Hello, Dr. Roman. Karen.” Ava greeted Hollis with a smile, then smiled at Karen. Hollis simply nodded her head while Karen greeted Ava back. “What are you guys doing here?” Ava asked, eyeing Hollis.

  “Eric asked Vivienne to the prom,” Karen answered, “and we have been out the whole day, looking for dresses.” Karen gestured toward a blushing Vivienne.

  “Yeah. And Mom has been threatening people the whole time,” Vivienne muttered, throwing a glare at Hollis. Hollis only rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. Ava looked between the two, a smile playing about her lips.

  “Well, how about I help?” she asked, before looking at Hollis briefly. “That is, if you want me to join you.”

  Ava let the comment hang in the air, then got up and excused herself for a while before coming back with a dress in hand. Vivienne’s mouth dropped open and she immediately got up from her seat to try the dress on. It was a gorgeous rose gold color long satin, and it was beautiful.

  Hollis couldn’t stop her eyes from straying to Ava’s tight jeans while they waited for Vivienne to change.

  But her own lips curved into a smile when Vivienne came out in the gorgeous dress. She and Karen both complemented her. “You look amazing, baby,” Hollis said to Vivienne, her eyes softening.

  “You do, honey. So beautiful!” Karen exclaimed, her hands clapping as she looked at Vivienne. Ava smiled too and nodded her approval. What was going on with Hollis, though? Hollis still wouldn’t talk to Ava, but Ava knew that Hollis’s eyes roamed her body every chance they got.

  The doorbell rang and Hollis opened the door. There stood Eric, blushing. The boy was wearing an all-black tux with a rose-gold flower in his front pocket—no doubt to match Vivienne’s dress. His sandy brown hair was slicked back to perfection and his blue eyes glinted in the light. In his hand, Eric held a corsage of white roses.

  “Good evening, Dr. Roman,” he said to Hollis. Hollis replied with a “good evening” of her own and gestured for the nervous boy to enter the house. Hollis and Eric sat down in the living room as they waited for Vivienne to come downstairs.

  “You look after my girl tonight, Eric,” she told him. “No drugs, no alcohol, and no letting her out of your sight. You won’t let me down, will you?”

  “N-n-no, Dr. Roman. Of course not,” Eric stammered. He shifted nervously in his seat, then sighed in relief when footsteps sounded on the staircase.

  Vivienne descended with Karen trailing behind her. Eric’s eyes widened. Vivienne looked beautiful in her gold dress with her chocolate brown hair straightened, so that it fell down her back. The front of her hair was styled into beautiful braids, which were pinned up.

  Vivienne blushed furiously, noticing Eric’s heated gaze.

  Eric walked up and stood before her, taking Vivienne’s hand

  in his and placing a soft kiss on it. He handed her the corsage, which she took hesitantly.

  “You look beautiful,” he told Vivienne, an honest smile playing on his lips.

  “You look really good, too,” she shyly replied, to which Eric grinned boyishly.

  Eric and Vivienne entered the school gymnasium, where the prom was being held. Hand in hand, the two teenagers walked toward the tables and took a seat. Blaring music sounded from the hallway. The stage was set for the DJs to make the night one to remember.

  Eric grabbed two glasses of fruit juice from a waiter passing by and handed one over to Vivienne. She took it with a smile. Then the music began, alternating slow and fast songs. After a while, Eric put down his cup and stood, straightening his suit. With his hand extended to Vivienne and a heartwarming smile on his face, he asked, “Would you like to dance?”

  Vivienne’s heart fluttered and she blushed, placing her hand in his. “Yes.”

  He led her to the dance floor, gesturing to the DJ to put on a slow song. Eric wrapped his arms around Vivienne’s waist as her own arms came to rest on Eric’s shoulders. The two swayed to the music and looked deeply into each other’s eyes. Vivienne’s breath hitched in her throat as Eric’s arms tightened around her, pulling her close. He leaned down, gazed at her lips, then met her eyes. Vivienne’s breath quickened and her own eyes fluttered shut as Eric’s lips lowered. Now they were only a breath away from her own.

  Just before their lips touched, screams sounded in the hallway, followed by loud bangs that sounded very much like gunshots. Eric pushed Vivienne behind him as he scanned their surroundings. He saw a trembling boy standing in the middle of the gymnasium with a gun in his hands.

  Eric quickly grabbed Vivienne’s hand and lead her toward the bleachers, but before they could get away, more gunshots sounded and Eric groaned in pain before falling down onto his stomach. Vivienne let out a mu ed scream as she looked at the wound on Eric’s leg. She crouched down beside him and tried to hold him up, but the smell of blood was nauseating.

  “Go! Run, Vivi! Run. Go hide behind the bleachers. Come on! Go!!” Eric yelled at her, but Vivienne shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

  “No! I’m not leaving you! Come on. Get up! Lean on me and we’ll go hide. Together,” she said to him before draping his arm over her shoulder and helping him stand.

  They moved hastily toward the bleachers and she made Eric sit behind them, his back against the wall. He was breathing heavily. As Vivienne got up to settle next to him again, more gunshots sounded and she looked back at the massacre. Eric’s lips were mouthing words, but his voice didn’t reach her ears as Vivienne stood there, shocked to her core—eyes wide. Wounded teenagers lay everywhere and the metallic smell of blood made her stomach churn.

  “MEDSTAR ALPHA, report to Forest Valley High School. There has been a school shooting, multiple trauma victims. Do you copy?” the radio sounded.

  “Copy. En route,” Lisa responded, her eyes hard. “Oh, my God. When will these stop?!” she asked, voice breaking.

  “Not until people take mental-health screening seriously and stop making guns so accessible,” Ava replied, as she checked her equipment. They had both been to too many of these shootings. It was always as shocking and nerve-wracking as the first time they had ever arrived on scene.

  Then it suddenly struck her. Vivienne! Her heart flew into her throat as they approached the school. It was all she could do to speak. “What do we have here?” Ava asked the o cer, scanning the small group of teenagers who had made their way out. It was immediately clear that none of their injuries were life-threatening. Unfortunately, Vivienne wasn’t among them.

  “The shooting has stopped and there isn’t a hostage situation. We are trying to put out the fire, but multiple teenagers are trapped under a collapsed portion of the building. You can treat the walking wounded,” the o cer said, visibly shaken.

  “I’m going in,” said Ava.

  “You can’t go in,” the o cer responded. “It isn’t safe.”

  “Like I said, I’m going in. I need to find Vivienne. Lisa, you can take care of these kids, can’t you?”

  ONCE INSIDE, Ava kept moving as she searched the rubble, calling for Vivienne until she rounded a corner and saw a bloodied rose-gold dress. Ava felt as if her heart had stopped beating for a second. It was Vivienne. She was badly injured.

  Ava rushed to her.

  “WHERE IS VIVI?! What the fuck is happening? Did anyone get her? Where is she!?” Hollis stood outside the school shouting, her eyes burning with tears, but she didn’t care.

  “Dr. Roman. What happened? Why are you here?” Lisa stood up from the child she was examining.

  “Vivi . . . Vivienne is here. It was her prom night. Have you seen her? Have they gotten her out? Is she okay? Goddamnit, somebody say something!” Hollis screamed, frantically looking around.

  “The firefighters have gone in to get everyone out. Ava went in too, to find Vivi. Don’t worry—Ava will find her. She will be OK,” Lisa told Hollis.

  “How do you know, Lisa? How do you know that’s true?

  What if she isn’t okay? What if no one gets to her?”

  Hollis, who never showed any emotion, was crying. She squatted, her hands fisted in her short hair as her eyes scanned the grounds for Vivienne.

  “Calm down, Hollis. You are a doctor yourself. Pull it together,” Lisa admonished. “She’s in good hands. Treat one of these kids.”

  “I want to go in. I have trauma training. I need to find Vivienne,” Hollis pleaded with Lisa.

  AVA MOVED the rubble of the collapsed wall o Vivienne. She knew she should wait for a stretcher and let the firefighters follow evacuation procedure, but a quick assessment of the girl told Ava that she didn’t have that kind of time.

  “Screw procedure,” she said, linking her arms around Vivienne’s chest so she could pick up her limp body and drag her out.

  AVA EMERGED from the side of the rubble walking backwards and dragging Vivienne. Seeing Vivienne, Hollis completely lost it. “How could you do this?!” she screamed at Ava. “You

  are the senior-most paramedic here!” Hollis was outraged and her voice boomed through the area. “Dragging her out like this could have injured her beyond repair! Why do you act like a doctor when you aren’t one?!” She lashed out at Ava.“Look, Dr. Roman—I know you aren’t exactly fond of me, but please, this isn’t about us,” Ava replied. “Vivienne has visible chest trauma and waiting could have killed her,” she added, throwing a glance at the girl.

  “Guys, you two need to stop,” Lisa said. “We need to get her to the hospital. I’m paging Dr. Ross. Vivienne needs the best.” Lisa was already in the driving seat as the two hopped in. Hollis kept looking looked at Vivienne and then back at the monitor. She had been harsh to Ava, who was also monitoring Vivienne. The two made eye contact for a second.

  It was Hollis who looked away first, as Ava’s black eyes burned into hers.

  “WHO RESCUED HER FROM THE RUBBLE?” Katherine asked, rushing into Emergency.

  “I brought her out.” Ava replied.

  “Did she have any structural support?” Katherine asked, looking at the MRI.

  “No, Doctor. We were short on equipment and I decided that she needed to be taken in immediately,” Ava explained, sounding nervous for the first time.

  “Good call, Ava. There is no evidence of subluxation, but the echo shows valve damage. If you had waited, we could have had a septal rupture. Obviously, not much can be done after that,” Katherine said, as Ava breathed a sigh of relief.

  Hollis listened, feeling both embarrassed and grateful.

  She looked at Ava as if she wanted to say something, but kept her mouth shut.

  “She is still in shock,” Katherine continued. “I hope the pressers and fluids can get her blood pressure back up soon.

  We need to open her up once she is stabilized,” she said.

  “But Dr. Ross, is the damage really that significant?

  Vivienne isn’t a hundred percent. She’s not ready to undergo major surgery,” Hollis said.

  “Unfortunately, we can’t tell the extent of the damage without opening her up. If it is massive, we can’t risk an arrhythmia or a ruptured myocardial wall. I know Vivienne isn’t fully fit for a surgery of that nature, but again, this is an extraordinary situation. Surgery is our best option,” said Katherine. “I know this is tough for you, Dr. Roman.

  Emotions often cloud rational judgment. But I assure you that I will do my best by her. I will get the consent papers ready.”

  “Dr. Ross, Vivienne will be all right, won’t she?” Hollis asked, signing the consent papers as she searched for any bit of hope she could cling to.

  Katherine looked at her and paused, as if she wanted to say something but then decided against it. Silence filled the room as Karen rushed in. Hollis welcomed Karen into her arms as the woman cried, clinging to Hollis. “How did this happen?” Karen asked, as Hollis held her more tightly.

  “She’ll be okay. Our baby will be okay. Vivienne’s a strong girl. She will be fine,” Hollis said, as she rubbed Karen’s back in an attempt to soothe her. But her words lacked their usual confidence, as if they were meant more for her own assurance than Karen’s.

  18

  Katherine rushed out of Surgery and called Hollis and Karen into the waiting area. “Good news! The surgery went really well. Vivienne is stable and recovering.”

  “Oh, thank you, Katherine! You have just been amazing.

  Thank you so much,” Hollis replied, her eyes tearing up.

  Karen hugged Hollis and continued to cry tears of joy.

  “We still need to monitor her for the next couple of days, just to be sure,” Katherine said. “I will keep the post-op team on it. It will be a while ‘till Vivienne wakes up.”

  Hollis turned to Karen. “Why don’t you go rest tonight and collect some things for her from home? I’ll stay here with her,” Hollis suggested. Karen was barely able to stand on her feet.

  “Are you sure? You are going to be okay, right?” Karen asked a ectionately.

  “Yes. You can come see her in the morning,” Hollis replied. “Don’t worry! I will be fine. We both will be,” she said, wrapping an arm around Karen and hugging her again.

  “Okay, that sounds good. I’ll be here first thing in the morning,” Karen told Hollis, as she took her jacket and got ready to leave. With a peck on the cheek and one last reassuring smile, Karen left for Hollis’s house.

  THE MONITOR BEEPED STEADILY as Hollis entered the room, her movements careful so as to not disturb the sleeping girl. Poor thing has been through so much already, Hollis thought, looking at her daughter. It was late at night and the only sound she could hear was beeping from the monitors.

  Usually, this would be background noise to Hollis, but tonight it was the most important sound in the world.

  She took a seat beside Vivienne’s bed and held the frail hand in her own. Hollis couldn’t help but feel absolutely miserable. She thought back to all the times she hadn’t been a good enough mother to Vivienne. She had almost lost the only thing that made her life worth living, and Hollis was terrified. Another such blow could end Vivienne’s existence.

  Hollis’s thoughts were broken when someone entered the room. “Do you mind if I come in?” Ava asked, the warmth in her voice reaching her eyes.

  Hollis paused, then answered, “No. Not at all.”

  “I’m not on duty, but just came to sit with Vivienne.