Stroking Sam's hair she kissed her sister gently on the forehead. "Hey Kiddo," she whispered, "What have you done to yourself?" Kim came up and wrapped her arms
around Jess's waist. Jess pulled Kim close to her side, her eyes never leaving Sam's face.
Kim could tell Jess was struggling to control her emotions. "She'll be okay sweetheart, she's strong." Kim tried to reassure Jess. A nurse was waiting patiently to take Sam's vitals. "Come on let the nurse do her job. We'll see her again in the ICU." Jess leaned down and kissed Sam's forehead whispering to her, "We'll see you soon, I love you." As Kim led Jess out of the recovery room she glanced back at her sister-in-law praying she
would be all right. She and Sam had grown very close since her marriage to Jess.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Riley sat at her desk with her head resting in her hands. After speaking to Sam's family
she'd gone back into the recovery room to check on Keith. One of the recovery room
nurses let her know he'd died on the operating table. As she stumbled out of the recovery
room the police were waiting for her. The interview with the police had been grueling.
She'd gone over and over the events in the trauma room with them. They'd finally left
after telling her they would contact her again if they had any further questions.
She reflected back over the last few months trying to understand how everything had
ended so tragically. Keith had been stalking her for months since she'd broken up with
him. While they were dating she had finally come to accept that her interests lay
elsewhere and always had. She was involved with a woman in medical school but it had
ended badly. Riley had known her uncle would never approve of her seeing a woman
and had kept the relationship a secret. After the breakup she swore off dating and
concentrated on her studies. Eventually she succumbed to pressure from her uncle and
began dating again. She'd never had a successful relationship with a guy and Keith was
just the latest failure. She never told him of her interest in women and had just broken it off with him saying they just weren't right for each other. He'd tried for over a month to
convince her otherwise wooing her with flowers and begging her to come back. Then
three months ago he'd seen her with a woman and actually saw them kissing. He went
ballistic and become abusive saying she'd made him a laughingstock leaving him for a
woman. She had tried to explain that wasn't the case that it had nothing to do with him.
He'd been making calls to her house at all hours of the night, following her when she
went out, sending threatening letters to her home and work. Her SUV had been
vandalized several times as well as her condo. She could never prove it was him. Finally
after he smashed her windshield in the hospital parking lot in front of a witness she
managed to convince a judge to issue a restraining order against him. The restraining
order had been served on him today and his response was to show up in the ER with a
gun. Riley felt bad that she wasn't more upset that Keith was dead. She'd never felt
anything for him except friendship and that had faded long ago as he made her life these
past months a living hell. Riley glanced at the wall clock realizing Samantha McKenna
would be regaining consciousness soon and she wanted to be there. She wearily headed
for the ICU.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ICU was bustling with almost all the beds occupied. Riley quickly located Sam's
chart and made her way to her room. She checked her latest vitals and lab results. She
seemed to be doing well. She was still asleep when Riley entered the room. The nurse
watching rose as she entered.
"Has she woken up yet?" Riley asked.
"No, they just got her settled a few minutes ago. She responded to the pain when she was moved but never opened her eyes." The nurse reported.
"Okay, you can take a quick break, I'll be here." The nurse quickly headed out happy for a respite.
Riley checked Sam's dressings and her IV's. Once all her checks were done she
approached the head of the bed and took Sam's much larger hand in her own. Lightly
stroking the side of her face she called to her.
"Samantha... Sam can you hear me? It's time to wake up."
Sam's eyes slowly fluttered open. Riley could see she was still groggy from the
anesthesia.
Sam looked up into soft violet eyes. She was confused feeling she should know this
woman. She stared at the beautiful woman with her head hugging pixyish cut coppery
red hair fringing her face, clear creamy skin with a smattering of freckles and striking
violet eyes. She just couldn't remember, her mind felt sluggish and her eyes didn't want
to stay focused.
"Sam, do you know where you are?"
Sam thought about that, her brow furrowing. It was slowly coming back to her. "In the
hospital?" she croaked out past a parched and sore throat.
Riley reached over and picked up a cup of ice chips from the bedside. She chose a small
sliver of ice and pressed it to Sam's lips. "Take a little ice, not too fast." Riley instructed.
After giving Sam several more ice chips she asked her. "Do you remember what
happened?"
Sam nodded. "Shot me." She whispered. "How bad?"
"He shot you twice. Your vest stopped the first bullet though you have some extensive
bruising on your shoulder. Second bullet hit you in the groin and nicked an artery. I
repaired it. It did damage to your leg but with physical therapy you'll be just fine. I told you I'd take good care of you." She smiled gently at Sam not even realizing she was
softly stroking her hair.
Sam smiled at Riley leaning into her touch. "I remember." Sam frowned suddenly
remembering more. "Is Davidson okay? What about the guy?" She struggled to
remember his name. "Keith."
"Davidson, that's your partner?" Sam nodded. "He's fine, he wasn't hurt." Riley hesitated not wanting to tell her the rest.
"Keith?" Sam asked again.
"He didn't make it." Riley told her quietly.
"I'm so sorry." Sam said tears forming in her eyes.
Riley felt terrible, the officer was more upset than she was. All she felt was a sense of
relief that the nightmare of his stalking was over. She said none of this to Sam.
"Thanks. Now you need to get some rest. Your family is here and will want to come in
soon; don't over tire yourself."
Sam was already drifting off; she struggled to remain awake. "Okay," she murmured sleepily.
Jess and Kim entered Sam's room as Riley was leaving.
"How is she?" Jess asked glancing over to the bed where Sam lay sleeping.
"She's doing well, vitals are stable. She's still very groggy from the anesthesia and
probably will be for a while."
"All right, we just want to see her for a few minutes. We won't wake her. Would it be
possible to see her chart?" Jess said.
Riley handed Jess the chart in her hand waiting to see if she had any questions. Jess
quickly went over the ER notes and the surgical notes Riley had recently added.
"Everything looks good. Thanks for taking such good care of her." Jess said gratefully.
Riley waved off her thanks heading out to check on her other patients.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Both women approached the bed gazing down at the sleeping woman. Kim glanced over
at Jess when she heard her breath hitch. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears and she
was shaking trying to control her emotions. Kim quickly stepped over and wrapped her