Riley couldn't resist the plea in her voice and gingerly perched on the side of
Sam's bed. Neither woman spoke for several moments.
Sam finally broke the silence. "What happened in the ER? Did you end up
having to operate on someone?"
"Yeah, a young man, well just a kid really was in a motorcycle accident. He
almost lost his leg but I was able to save it."
"Lucky for him you were around." Sam told Riley squeezing her arm lightly.
"Thanks. Well I should let you get some sleep." Riley said as she started to
stand up.
Sam placed a restraining hand on her arm. "Please don't go." Sam pleaded
softly.
Riley couldn't quite see Sam's eyes in the dim light but she could hear the plea
in her voice
"Okay, just for a little while then you need your rest." She said drawing one leg up onto the bed and settling a little closer to Sam. Her thigh was just touching
Sam's hip.
"Tell me about Keith," Sam requested quietly.
Riley tensed at the mention of Keith. Her mind flashed back to the awful moment
in the trauma room when Sam's body slammed into hers and she realized Keith
had shot her. She glanced down finally noticing that Sam was stroking her leg
softly. She knew what Sam was asking but didn't know where to start. She
decided to start at the beginning. Riley tried to clear the lump in her throat before
speaking.
"I met Keith at a dinner party given by a friend. I didn't realize 'til after I arrived it was a set up. My friend was worried that I spent too much time working and
wasn't dating so decided to 'help' me out. My schedule doesn't leave a lot of time
for a personal life." Riley knew that wasn't totally true but left it at that for the
time being. "He asked me out and we started dating. I knew from the start we'd
never be more than friends. It just seemed... I don't know convenient to have
someone so I could say, 'See I'm dating'." Riley could see Sam's frown and
knew she sounded callous but she wasn't willing to admit she dated him just to
keep her uncle happy. "Keith wanted to escalate our relationship beyond
friendship." Riley started to stutter slightly. "I just couldn't do that again. I'd tried, really tried in the past but it just never worked. My interests lay elsewhere." She
looked trying to see into Sam's eyes. "And they always have." She added in
almost a whisper. Sam gently squeezed her leg in understanding. She wasn't
sure Riley was going to say anything else. Sam lay quietly with one hand on
Riley's leg trying to absorb everything she'd told her.
"I broke it off with Keith after a month. I told him we just weren't right for each
other. He refused to accept that. He tried for a month to get me to go back to
him. I repeatedly refused. I'd finally decided to stop trying to be something I'm
not. I went out on a date with a woman I met at a health club. It was nice and I
finally felt like I was being true to myself. I didn't know then that Keith had taken
up following me. He followed us the second time we went out and saw the
woman kiss me good night. He went ballistic and accused me of making him a
laughingstock dumping him for a woman. He turned my world into a nightmare
from that day forward. There were phone calls at all hours of the night and he
followed me everywhere. Threatening letters were sent to my home and work.
My SUV was vandalized several times. I went to the police but could never
prove it was him. After one of the staff witnessed him breaking my windshield I
was finally able to get a judge to issue a restraining order. He was served with
the order only hours before he showed up in the ER. You know what happened
after that." Riley looked down at the floor. All her guilt over the whole incident
overwhelmed her. The knowledge that she was responsible for Sam being so
badly injured haunted her. She lifted tear-filled eyes to Sam. "I'm so sorry I got
you shot. It's my fault you're in this bed."
Sam sat up and gently pulled Riley into her arms. Riley resisted for a second
then her resolve broke and tears poured down her cheeks. She wrapped her
arms around Sam's waist snuggling into her chest. Riley knew she should pull
away but couldn't force herself out of the comforting embrace. Sam hugged
Riley to her chest, stroking her hair gently.
"Now you listen to me Riley Connolly. It was NOT your fault. Keith was obviously
disturbed. Normal people don't stalk their ex-girlfriends. You didn't get me shot.
Keith shot me. He was going to kill you Riley. I've been in those situations
before. I couldn't let that happen."
Both women were quiet for a while. Sam enjoyed the feel of Riley in her arms
and Riley savored the comfort offered by Sam's warm embrace. Sam inhaled the
sweet scent of Riley's hair and unable to resist leaned down and kissed the
crown of her head. Riley tightened her arms around Sam's waist. Sam nuzzled
Riley's hair then placed a lingering kiss on her forehead. Riley's head came up
and their eyes met in the dim light. What had started out as a simple offer of
comfort was quickly becoming something else. Sam watched for any sign of
resistance as she slowly lowered her lips to meet Riley's. The kiss was gentle
and undemanding. Sam lifted her head and stared into Riley's eyes waiting for
her reaction. Riley was dazed, the feelings racing through her body were
amazing. No one had ever roused such feelings in her with a simple kiss. She
forgot about everything and leaned up wanting to feel those amazing lips again.
Sam grinned before meeting Riley's lips. This kiss quickly became passionate.
Sam lightly licked Riley's lips pressing for entrance. Riley opened her mouth
moaning as Sam's tongue slid in and started to explore. A sudden loud banging
in the hall caused the women to break apart.
The sound snapped Riley out of the sensual haze she'd been in. She stiffened
and pulled back out of Sam's arms. "Oh my god, Oh my god." She muttered as it
sank in just what she'd allowed to happen. She panicked realizing not only had
she been passionately kissing a patient but they were sitting on her hospital bed
where anyone could've walk in.
"We shouldn't be doing this. I can't do this, I'm your doctor." She told Sam
tearfully getting off the side of the bed and backing away. "I have to go."
"Wait Riley, don't go," Sam called. Riley ignored her as she fled the room. Sam
pulled back the blankets intent on going after her. Forgetting her injured leg, she
jumped out of the bed. When her full weight landed on the injured limb, she
gasped as pain shot down her thigh. She leaned against the bed gasping for
breath. Knowing there was no way she could chase after Riley she eased
herself back into the bed. Sam felt tears of pain and frustration roll down her
cheeks. She couldn't believe after the kiss they'd shared Riley had just run out of
the room. So what if I'm her patient, Sam thought defiantly, that's only
temporary. I'll be out of here soon. Sam had so many questions bombarding her
mind. Had Riley ever been with a woman? Had she scared her with the kiss?
Was she seeing someone? Sam pushed all the disturbing questions away
forcing herself to relax. She finally drifted off to sleep with thoughts of how
wonderful it felt to hold Riley in her arms and taste her sweet lips.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Riley made her way to the on-call room keeping her head down hoping no one