would notice her tear streaked face. She locked the door of the on-call room and
threw herself on the bed. The tears started to flow and she sobbed out her
confusion. She didn't understand any of what she was feeling. It had taken all
her willpower to pull out of Sam's embrace. She had for the first time in her life
felt like she belonged. She'd felt safe and cherished in Sam's arms. And her kiss!
That had been the most incredible kiss she'd ever had. She'd never been so
involved with someone that she forgot who she was and where they were. That
scared the hell out of her.
She's a patient, she's a patient, she's a patient, Riley chanted repeatedly. It was totally unethical to get involved with a patient it went against every ethic she'd
been taught in med school. She knew she'd already crossed the line and should
have another doctor take over Sam's case. She was obviously no longer
emotionally unattached. She had to distance herself from Sam it was the only
ethical thing to do. She didn't know how she was going to do it she admitted to
herself. Sam tugged at a place in her heart Riley hadn't known existed. She
rolled onto her side emotionally exhausted. As she drifted off to sleep, she felt
warm strong arms holding her tight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sam knew she needed advice and fast. She'd called Kim managing to catch her
before she left for work. She told her the whole story of the previous night's
events. She hadn't been able to keep the elation out of her voice when she
described finally kissing the beautiful doctor. Kim had been amazed at the story.
She told Sam that Riley must indeed have feelings for her. Whether she would
ever admit them was another story. Kim explained to Sam the ethical training
physician's underwent and that one of the most stressed tenets was the
prohibition of getting involved with a patient. It was the same reasoning behind
physicians not treating their own family members; their judgment would be
impaired by their emotional attachment to the patient. Kim had advised Sam to
respect Riley's decision to not get involved with a patient. Sam had argued she
was unwilling to let a chance to be with the little doctor go. Kim had counseled
patience telling Sam; once you're not her patient anymore then you can pursue
her.
Sam had spent the morning contemplating Kim's advice. She decided to bide
her time knowing she would be out of the hospital soon. Once she was, she
wouldn't be Riley's patient and then she would pursue the doctor. Sam couldn't
help reliving that moment last night when Riley had opened to her and she had
slipped her tongue into her mouth. Sam groaned as she felt the familiar tingling
between her legs. She eagerly awaited morning rounds .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Riley completed her rounds and quickly left the surgical floor. She'd managed to
avoid Sam for the last two days. She'd not seen her since she ran out of her
room after their kiss. Riley knew she was being incredibly immature just avoiding
Sam but her feelings for the woman scared her. She didn't seem to be able to
control herself around Sam so she had chosen to be a coward and hide. Riley
had considered turning Sam's case over to another physician but the thought of
someone else touching her no matter how innocently disturbed her. She tried
very hard not to think about what that meant. Riley knew Sam had been asking
for her but had repeatedly ignored requests via the nurses to see her. She
checked her chart everyday and consoled herself with the fact that Sam was
doing well. Riley longed to see her but knew this was the only way it could be;
she couldn't become involved with a patient.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sam was fit to be tied. She had taken up patrolling the halls hoping to spot Riley.
The woman was obviously avoiding her. She'd not seen her since their kiss on
Monday night and it was already Thursday. Sam had made increasingly
adamant requests of the nurses to see the elusive doctor but all she got was
excuses. Damn it! No one can stay in surgery THAT long! Sam growled in
frustration. One side effect of all the walking was her leg was stronger but still
ached when she over did it. She'd been out in the hall for some time and her leg
was hurting. Sam headed back to her room in defeat. She had just reached her
door when the hair on the back of her neck suddenly stood up. Whirling around
as quickly as possible, Sam saw Riley step off the elevators. Sam hurried back
down the hall intent on stopping her before she could disappear again.
Riley heard rapid footsteps and looked up from the chart she'd picked up. Her
body tensed when she saw Sam rapidly approaching. Her first response was to
run but one look at Sam's determined face quelled that idea. She sighed in
defeat putting back the chart and walked slowly toward Sam. Sam slowed her
headlong pace when she realized Riley wasn't going to run. Riley's eyes ran
over Sam as she approached; her expression softened and she forgot all about
trying to avoid her.
"Hi Sam. How are you?" Riley greeted when they met halfway between Sam's
room and the nurses desk.
Sam stared at the doctor in amazement. Riley greeted her as if nothing was
amiss and she hadn't pulled a disappearing act. Sam couldn't stop the anger
that crept into her voice. "Where have you been Riley?" she asked angrily.
That was the wrong tact to take with Riley. She'd felt bad for avoiding Sam but
now her own anger rose at Sam's accusing tone of voice.
"I do have other patients besides you to take care of Officer McKenna." Riley
responded angrily. "Was there something you wanted? I'm very busy." As soon
as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them.
Sam's shoulders slumped in defeat. She had been right all along, Riley only
thought of her as another patient. The kiss had meant nothing to her and that
had been why she was avoiding her. Sam had thought it was because she didn't
want to be involved with a patient, now she knew better.
"No there's nothing Dr. Connolly. I'm sorry I bothered you." Sam turned and
started to slowly make her way back to her room.
Riley watched sadly, as Sam turned and walked way. She felt terrible for what
she'd said to her leading her to believe she was just another patient. It broke
Riley's heart to see the defeated slump of her shoulders but she knew it was for
the best.
Sam was almost back to her room when she stumbled her injured leg giving out,
one of her crutches started to slide out from under her. The rush down the hall to
catch Riley had placed more of a strain on her leg than she'd realized.
Riley saw Sam stumble and heard her gasp of pain. She raced down the hall to
catch her before she hit the ground. Being so much shorter than Sam Riley did
the only thing she could and wrapped her arms around Sam's waist from behind.
She supported as much of her weight as she could until Sam could get the
crutches under her again.
"Are you all right?" Riley questioned. She still had her arms wrapped securely
around Sam's waist her body pressed tightly against hers from behind.
Sam had known the second the arms came around her they belonged to Riley.
She tested her leg gingerly and sighed happily when it held her weight.