Thank you for all of the lovely reviews. Sorry it's taken me a bit longer to write this chapter, but I promise to be updating regularly. The story will include a number of flashbacks, which I'll indicate in italics but I think it should all make good sense - Rachel

Rayna stood at the door of the Bluebird, watching Deacon on stage singing with his sister. Watty had introduced them the week before, telling her that Deacon was one of the best guitar players he'd seen in years and a good songwriter to boot. He'd acted pretty indifferent to her, but then as she was leaving that night after her set, he'd told her he was playing a show with his sister the next Thursday if she wanted to drop by.

His sister could sing and they sounded good together. Rayna found herself wondering what their story was. She stood there listening, her fake ID clutched in her hands, hoping that Tandy would be willing to cover for her one more time. If her daddy knew where she was...well, she wasn't even going to entertain that thought.

Deacon and Beverly finished their set and he walked over to her, his guitar in one hand, a longneck bottle of beer in the other.

"You came," he said, his voice low.

She nodded, suddenly feeling shy and wondering how old he was. "Y'all sounded great up there. Your sister has a gorgeous voice."

"Thanks," Deacon replied. "When's your next gig?"

Rayna shrugged. She wasn't sure. Watty was encouraging her to play other shows, but it was getting harder and harder to keep sneaking out of the house. Eventually her daddy was going to expect to see her perform in the play she kept saying she was practicing for or ask to meet the boy she said she was dating.

"I'll be lookin' forward to hearin' you sing again," Deacon responded, taking another drag off his beer. "Hey, you want one?" he asked, gesturing to his rapidly emptying bottle.

She nodded, hoping he wouldn't ask her what kind-she'd wasn't much of a drinker, other than the small glasses of wine her daddy would serve at dinner parties he occasionally held.

"Deacon?"

They both looked up to see his sister standing there.

"We should get going," she said as she stood there holding his guitar case and her purse.

"Can you hold on a few more minutes, Bev?" he asked, but she shook her head.

"No, I'd really like to go now," she replied.

Deacon shot Rayna an apologetic look. "So, I'll be looking for your name out there and hoping to hear you sing again, real soon."

Rayna nodded. "I should get going, too."

She walked to the door with them. Deacon held the door first for Beverly and then for Rayna.

"You here in the lot?" he asked as he looked at the cars parked outside the Bluebird.

"Uh, I'm just over there," she answered, pointing toward the adjacent lot.

"Can I walk you to your car?" he asked.

She shrugged, then followed as they walked to his beat up pick-up truck where he unlocked the door for his sister and tucked the guitar behind the seat. Deacon's sister opened the door, but didn't get in, watching them as they walked another twenty feet to where Rayna's car sat.

"Nice," Deacon said as they stood in front of the red BMW.

Rayna looked down at her feet. She hadn't thought about what it would look like for him to see the car. It had been a birthday present from her father then month before when she turned 16.

"Uh, it's…"

Deacon smiled. "It doesn't matter, Ray."

She smiled as he shortened her name. She usually didn't like when people did that. Her mom had always called her "a little Ray of Sunshine" and the memory still hurt, but for some reason it didn't feel that way when Deacon did it.

She fished in her purse and pulled out a piece of paper and wrote her phone number on it. She handed it to him.

"Here, but, uh...it's the phone line I share with my sister," she explained, suddenly feeling shy.

Deacon took the number and stuffed it in the front pocket of his jeans. "I'd, uh, give you mine, but my sister and I, we're in this efficiency and there's just a payphone there."

Rayna nodded.

Deacon turned to head back to his truck, then stopped and came back.

"I'm gonna call you, Rayna Wyatt and when I do, I sure hope you and I can find a stage somewhere to sing a couple of songs."

Rayna found a smile crossing her face as she nodded. She hoped so too.

"Rayna."

Rayna opened her eyes at the sound of her name to find her sister standing in front of her. She eased off the short, narrow couch where she had finally fallen asleep the night before and stood up to hug her sister.

"Thanks for coming," she said as she tightened her arms around her sister.

"Of course. I knew I should have come for the surgery," Tandy said as they pulled back apart.

Rayna shrugged. "Who knew any of this stuff would happen."

Tandy led her back to the couch where they sat down. "How is Deacon and what is going on with Teddy?"

Rayna shrugged and looked up at the clock on the wall. "I'm supposed to meet with the doctors here in about a half hour to see about this therapy they're using that keeps his body cold to preserve the brain function and as for Teddy...Tandy, I don't even know what to think anymore. It was bad enough when there was a hooker and it was this one bad choice he'd made, but now when I hear about all this other stuff, what he's gotten himself messed up with and the stuff he did when we were married...did I ever know him at all?"

Tandy just shook her head. "How are they girls? Where are they?"

Rayna closed her eyes and raised her hand to her forehead, rubbing it across her eyes. "They're with Luke. I just didn't know what else to do."

Tandy nodded. "Makes sense. They know and trust him. And he was okay with that?"

Rayna nodded as well. "Yeah, he was actually really great."

"Hey, honey-you want to try to get a shower, change your clothes?" Tandy asked.

Rayna looked down at the clothes she'd been wearing for nearly 24 hours and sighed. As she started to respond, the door opened.

"Rayna," the doctor said as he walked into the room.

Rayna and Tandy stood up again as he crossed over to them.

"Dr. Rand, this is my sister, Tandy Hampton. Tandy, this is Deacon's doctor, Caleb Rand."

They quickly shook hands.

"How is he? I was just going to walk down to his room," Rayna said.

Caleb looked down at the chart he was holding. "He had a good night. There were no major changes. We'll continue the sedation and hypothermia therapy until after lunch, but as I said, there are no real changes."

"So he's still asleep?" Rayna asked.

Caleb nodded. "Yes. I mean, he's still unconscious, but remember, we're keeping him that way for now. We'll know more later today."

"The girls are coming up, can they seem him?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yes, just for short visits, but that would be fine. I think the cardiology team is in there right now, but if you want to talk to the doctor, we can walk down there right now."

Rayna turned to her sister. "Why don't you go out to Luke's and pick up the girls and bring them up here. I'll go talk to the doctors."

Tandy nodded and reached to take her sister in another hug. "Hang in there, Rayna. Things are gonna be okay."

As Rayna pulled back, tears began to form in her eyes. "I guess I just gotta keep believing that."

Gunnar waited as the elevator rose up to the fifth floor, stepping out when the door finally opened. He scanned up and down the hallway, a smile crossing his face when he caught sight of Scarlett leaning against the wall outside her mother's hospital room.

"Hey, I think I got everything you asked for," he said as he walked up and handed her the bag of clothes and toiletries she'd requested.

"Thanks," she replied as she took the bag. "I guess I should have planned better to stay up here, and I just didn't feel like I could leave when we didn't know what was happening to Deacon…" Her voice trailed off as she looked down toward the floor. After a moment her eyes raised back up to meet his, but now they were filled with tears.

"I don't know what I'll do if he isn't okay," she said, her voice catching.

He found himself taking her in his arms, trying to offer her any kind of comfort. After a moment they pulled apart.

"And Caleb can't seem to tell me anything and he's busy working with the team and my mom…" Scarlett's voice broke again.

"I get it," Gunnar replied. "Hey, that's why you have friends. Let me help you with your mom. After Jason and Micah and well, everything, I owe you."

Scarlett excused herself to freshen up while Gunnar waited in the hall.

"Gunnar?"

He looked up to see Caleb Rand standing in front of him. The doctor was still in his white coat, but looked about as worn out as Scarlett had looked when he found her.

"Hey, Scarlett just went down the hall to wash her face and stuff," Gunnar explained. "She, uh, she had me stop over at Deacon's place to get some things for her."

Rand nodded. "Has she been in to see her mom?"

Gunnar shrugged. "I'm not sure. She was out in the hall when I got here."

The doctor was reaching for the door when Gunnar touched his arm. "Hey, man, has...did Scarlett ever say anything about her mom? About what she did?"

Caleb turned back him. "Scarlett is my girlfriend."

Gunnar nodded. "Yeah, I know that, but I mean, has she told you about all the stuff her mom did to her? Not just the stuff last year, but when she was growing up. If she hasn't, it doesn't mean she won't, but now that they're both here and this stuff with Deacon, I just think you need to know that it's been pretty messed up between them."

Caleb nodded. "Thanks, Gunnar. I know Scarlett appreciates your friendship and it's been great to have you here, but really, I think we can take it from here."

Gunnar stepped back. "Yeah, I get that. Well, if you need anything, let me know." He waited for a moment, then turned and left. It had been pretty clear what his role was supposed to be here and for now, he was not needed.

As Scarlett walked up the hallway, she was surprised to not see Gunnar. When she got to the door to her mom's room, it was open and Caleb was standing inside talking to her mom.

"How you feelin' today?" she asked as she walked up to the bed.

"Like I got split in half and had my guts pulled out," Beverly responded. "But your doctor friend says that's to be expected."

"She'd doing great," Caleb replied.

"Good enough you can get me out of this bed and go see my brother?" Beverly asked. "I...I need to see him."

Scarlett moved over and took her hand. "We'll get you up there, Momma, I promise. As soon as it's safe to do it, but there's lot of folks takin' care of Uncle Deacon. And Rayna's with him."

"I'm sure she is," Beverly spit out. "But I need to be there. I need to see Deacon."

Scarlett looked over at Caleb and shrugged.

"Let me see if I can get a wheelchair down here," Caleb offered. "I'll take you myself."

Beverly turned and smiled at him. "Well, at least someone here is willing to help me see my brother...who may be dying, even after I saved his life."

"He's not dying, Momma," Scarlett said quietly, her eyes on her feet rather than her mother.

"Not that I'd know for all you're doing to help me," Beverly responded. "So, can I put on my own clothes or maybe at least a robe?"

"I'll get your robe, Momma," Scarlett replied as she moved over to the wardrobe that held Beverly's things.

Caleb watched the interaction for a moment. "Well, I'll go see what I can do about a wheelchair," he said as he turned to walk out of the room.

Rayna headed down the hallway back to the Intensive Care Unit. She paused for a moment, remembering what it felt like to wake up on this floor after her car accident with Deacon. She said a quick prayer and then walked into the unit.

"Any chance I can go in for a minute?" she asked the nurse at the desk outside Deacon's room.

"Of course," the nurse replied. "They doctors will be back for rounds, but you're fine to head in there for a little bit."

She walked into the room where Deacon lay, much like he'd been each time she had come down during the night. She pulled up the chair they'd left in the corner for her and sat down. She reached up once again for Deacon's hand, taking it in her own. His skin was cold, but she could feel the rough edges where he had callouses from his years playing guitar. Her fingers moved across the scar left from the surgery he'd had to repair his hand after the accident.

"We almost lost each other once before, Deacon. I'm not ready to do it now," she said, quietly. "You made me a promise a lot of years ago and you made me another one yesterday. I'm holding you to it."

Rayna walked up to the door to Deacon's tiny apartment. She could hear him playing his guitar inside, singing something she hadn't heard before. She raised her hand, paused and then knocked.

"Hey, Rayna," he said as he opened the door, a smile crossing his face. He looked down at the bag she was holding in her hand. "What's going on?"

He stepped back and set down the guitar he'd been holding.

"What were you singing?" she asked. "I liked the sound of it."

A quick blush crossed Deacon's face. "Uh, just something I've been working on."

"Would you sing it for me?" she asked as she crossed over to the dirty easy chair that was pushed between the bed and the couch that she knew he slept on each night.

"I don't think so," Deacon said. "So, what're you doing here?"

Rayna looked up at him, suddenly feeling nervous. "Uh, I was wondering how much this place cost."

Deacon sat down on the couch. "Why?"

Rayna looked over at him, her eyes filling with tears. "Uh, cause my daddy just kicked me out."

"Kicked you out?" Deacon repeated. "What do you mean, kicked you out?"

"He found out about the showcase, with Watty and he said I couldn't do it. And I said he couldn't stop me and he said that as long as I was under his roof, he sure could. And so I'm not...under his roof."

"You should go home, Rayna," Deacon responded. "It's too hard, being out here on your own. And this place-it's no place for Rayna Wyatt to be living."

Rayna looked over at him, her face set. "Well, she isn't. There's no more Rayna Wyatt. From now on, you can call me Rayna Jaymes."

She looked up, pulled from her memories as she heard voices in the hallway.

"What do you mean I have to wait?"

She stood up, recognizing the voice immediately. She leaned in to kiss Deacon. "Be strong, babe. And come back to me."

She stepped from the room to find Scarlett, Dr. Rand and Beverly waiting outside the room.

"Seems only one person can be in with him at a time," Beverly said as Rayna brushed her hair back from her face.

"Mornin', Bev," she said as she stepped closer to Deacon's sister. "I'm real glad to see you're doing well enough to come up here. I'm sure it'll be a great comfort to Deacon to hear your voice and now you're doing okay after the surgery."

"I'd like to go in there now and see him," Beverly said, looking up at Caleb, completely ignoring Rayna's comment.

As Caleb pushed Beverly's wheelchair into the room, Scarlett came over to Rayna.

"I know he's feelin' better cause he's heard your voice this morning," Scarlett said as she gave Rayna a hug.

Rayna stepped back and gave Scarlett a smile. "You doing okay?"

Scarlett shrugged. "Can I say I'm not sure?"

"Of course you can," Rayna replied, smoothing her hand down Scarlett's hair.

"Scarlett!" Beverly called from the room.

"I better go in there," Scarlett said. "But, I'll get her back up to her room as soon as I can, leave you and Uncle Deacon in some peace."

"You don't have to manage her all on your own," Rayna replied, knowing how difficult Scarlett's relationship was with her mother.

"I'm doin' okay," Scarlett replied.

Rayna looked down as her phone rang. "Sorry, honey, I gotta take this," she apologized to Scarlett. She answered the call, turning her back to Deacon's niece. "Hey, Buck, what's up?"

"I'm sorry to bother you," Bucky began, "but before you see Luke again, we better talk about Juliette."

"Seriously?" Rayna asked. "And what do you mean before I see Luke again?"

"Cause Juliette just severed her relationship with Highway 65 and is going to release her record with Luke's label," Bucky explained. "Oh, and there's one more thing."

Rayna sighed. "What?"

"She fired Glenn...and hired Jeff Fordham as her new manager."

TBC