blankets and gently brushed the hair from her face before quietly leaving the
room. She sighed to herself; she just couldn't seem to help the feelings the
beautiful cop stirred in her. No matter how many times she told herself the
woman was her patient and promised herself she would remain professional
with her, her resolve faded with one look into those amazing blue eyes. Only two
weeks, you just have to make it two weeks. Then she'll go back to her life and
you can go back to yours, she told herself as she made her way back to the on-
call room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sam was sitting in her hospital bed feeling sorry for herself. Kim and Jess had left to return to LA and work. They had both taken an emergency leave of absence and their time was up. They
assured her they would return when she was discharged. She had tried to convince them she
didn't need any help. Jess had informed her that their younger brother Fra
k was coming as wel with his wife Cheryl. Frank and Cheryl would be staying with her until she got back up on her feet. Cheryl was a nurse and so would be able to keep an eye on her incision and make sure she didn't overexert herself.
Sam hadn't seen Riley all day. She smiled despite her glum mood when she
remembered the gentle massage Riley had given her as she drifted off to sleep
last night. Her thoughts were interrupted when the door to her room swung
open. Sam frowned as a woman sauntered in and stood at the foot of her bed
reading a chart. The woman was dressed in scrubs with a lab coat over them.
Her brunette hair was tucked up under a surgical cap. She appeared to be in her
late 40's. The woman just stood there totally ignoring Sam. She finally looked up
her brown eyes making brief contact with Sam's before looking back to the chart
in her hand.
"I'm Dr. Thompson." The woman stated as she stepped to Sam's bedside and
attempted to pull the blanket back. Sam grabbed the woman's wrist stopping
her. The doctor looked at Sam in shock then jerked her arm away. "I need to
look at your incision." She stated reaching for the blanket again.
Again, Sam stopped her; she could see the woman was getting angry. She didn't
care. "Where's Dr. Connolly?"
"I'm covering your case today." The woman arrogantly informed Sam, ignoring
her question.
Sam still hadn't moved her hand from the edge of the blanket. She met the
woman's angry eyes. "I prefer to be seen by Dr. Connolly. When will she be in?"
The doctor let out a frustrated sigh. Riley hadn't told her what a difficult patient
this was. Her voice became patronizing as if she was explaining to a stubborn
child. "Today is Dr. Connolly's day off. She asked me to look in on you and check
your surgical incision. OK?"
Sam released her hold on the blanket without further comment. Dr. Thompson
pulled back Sam's blanket and flipped her gown up over her abdomen exposing
her from the waist down. She put on rubber gloves as Sam pushed the gown
back down trying to preserve at least some of her modesty. The woman quickly
pulled the tape and bandage off seeming not to hear Sam's gasp of discomfort
at having the tape removed so abruptly. She poked at the incision in several
places before roughly rotating Sam's leg and pushing it up to examine the
sutures on her inner thigh. Sam hands clenched into fists and she bit her lip to
keep from crying out in pain at the rough handling of her leg. The woman
seemed oblivious to the pain she was causing with her callous handling of
Sam's leg. She completed her exam and re-bandaged the incision. Several
pieces of tape where wrinkled and already pinching Sam.
Sam watched incredulously as the woman made some notes in her chart and
then left without another word. Sam's already glum mood slipped lower. She felt
as if everyone had abandoned her.
Chapter Four
Riley had enjoyed her day off. She had gone out to dinner with a very nice
woman she'd met at the health club a few weeks ago. It was amazing how
relaxing a date could be without having to worry about someone stalking your
every move. She'd forced thoughts of Sam McKenna away repeatedly but still
managed to enjoy herself. She knew there was no chance of pursuing a
relationship with Sam and had tried to convinced herself that she accepted that.
She headed for the surgical lounge resisting the urge to check on Sam. Riley
opened the door to the doctor's lounge almost running into Claire Thompson.
"Morning Claire. Thanks for taking care of my patients for me. Any problems I
need to know about?"
"No everyone was fine but next time find someone else to look after that
McKenna woman. You could've warned me she's such a bitch," Claire
complained.
Riley's eyes widened in surprise, Sam had never been anything but friendly and
cooperative. "What happened?" She demanded sharply.
Claire's eyebrows rose at Riley's tone and she looked down her nose at the
shorter woman. "I beg your pardon. I checked on your patient as you asked and
she acted like a spoiled bitch. Next time find someone else." Claire responded
angrily before storming out of the lounge.
Now Riley was worried something was wrong. She had to restrain herself from
rushing down to Sam's room. She finally gave up the fight and was on her way
to check on her when her pager went off summoning her to the ER.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Riley walked out of the recovery room several hours later having completed the
surgery on a gunshot victim. Her thought immediately turned to Sam and her
earlier conversation with Claire. She headed for her room to find out for herself
just what was going on.
She stepped into Sam's room to find her lying in bed staring into space. Riley's
concern skyrocketed. She quickly approached Sam's bed reaching out to lay her
hand on Sam's shoulder. Sam jumped at her touch and she immediately pulled
back.
"Hi." Sam said listlessly. She missed her sister and Kim. After the doctor's rough treatment of her leg the previous evening it had ached all night even with the
pain med and to top it off the tape and bandage was tight and uncomfortable. All
in all, she felt incredibly sorry for herself.
Riley placed her hand on Sam's forehead checking for fever. She knew the
nurses would have informed Claire if Sam had any problems but now doubted
Sam would've told anyone.
"How're you doing Sam?"
"OK."
"Is something wrong?"
"No."
Riley was getting frustrated. This was so unlike Sam. She racked her brain
thinking of some way to get more than a one-word answer. Sam wasn't even
meeting her eyes.
"I'd like to check your incision. Would that be okay?"
"OK."
Riley sighed and lifted up Sam's blankets. She lifted up her gown and positioned
it carefully only exposing as much of Sam as she needed to. She frowned when
she got a look at the bandage. The tape was poorly applied and wrinkled. Riley
knew it must be very uncomfortable. She wondered why Sam hadn't said
anything to the nurses. She removed it as carefully as she could but winced in
sympathy when Sam grimaced. The skin where the tape was wrinkled appeared
red and sore. Riley silently cursed Claire. Her incisions looked clean and tight.
Most of the swelling was gone and the incision was already showing signs of