enticing Sam was her patient. If it wasn't for you she wouldn't be here, she berated herself. Riley knew she could easily fall under this beautiful woman's spell. She noticed
her hand still resting in Sam's. It surprised her; she was never the touchy feely type with patients. She forced herself back into doctor mode removing her hand from Sam's grasp.
Sam noted the sudden change in Riley's expression and wondered why.
"I'm glad you're doing well." Riley stated in a crisp professional tone. "Please be sure to let the nurses know if you need anything. You'll be transferred to the surgical post-op
floor in the morning. Have a pleasant night."
And with that she was gone. Sam couldn't figure out what happened. They'd been talking
and all of a sudden Riley just took off. Then it hit her, "Duh..." she muttered to herself mentally slapping her forehead. She probably thought I was flirting with her. You
were, piped up Sam's little voice . Shut-up, Sam told the voice.
Sam sighed in frustration admitting how attracted she was to the beautiful doctor. Forget it, she's straight. Remember her ex-BOYFRIEND shot you. Sam slowly drifted off to sleep visions of coppery red hair and soft violet eyes playing in her mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following morning Sam's IV's and heart monitor were removed and she was
transferred to the surgical post-op floor. She'd hoped to see Riley before she was
transferred but she'd never shown. She sighed in disappointment settling down to get
some much-needed rest. The nurse told her they would be getting her up to walk later
and she dreaded it.
Chapter Three
Riley made her way down the hall to the sixth floor nurses station. She was
completing her afternoon rounds of all her post-op surgical patients; she only
had one left she hadn't seen. She'd checked her chart on morning rounds but
avoided going into Sam McKenna's room. She'd gone home last night and
thought long and hard about the beautiful police officer. She admitted to herself
she was very attracted to the woman but knew nothing could ever come of it.
Not only was the woman her patient but it was her fault the officer was even in
the hospital. She could never forgive herself for getting her shot. Determined to
present a professional demeanor, Riley headed for Sam's room.
Sam sat in her hospital bed waiting for Jess and Kim to arrive. They'd been there
during morning visiting hours and promised to return for the afternoon hours.
Now that she was allowed to eat solid food, Sam had begged Kim to bring her
something decent to eat. The door swung open revealing Riley Connolly.
"Hi Riley," Sam greeted with a smile.
"Good afternoon Officer McKenna. How are you feeling?"
Sam frowned at the crisp emotionless tone of voice. She noticed that Riley
refused to meet her eyes. The only thing Sam could think of that would cause
such a change in the woman's demeanor was last night's conversation. Oh
damn, Sam groaned to herself, maybe she's a homophobe and freaked that I
flirted with her.
Sam put on her best police officer voice and replied. "I'm doing well Dr.
Connolly."
Riley's head jerked up at Sam's tone of voice. Without meaning to, she stared
into Sam's eyes and her expression immediately softened. "I'm glad to hear that
Sam. Is there anything you need? Are the pain meds working well for you?"
Sam sighed with relief; maybe she'd misjudged the doctor. "No I'm good. Kim
promised to bring me something to eat. Hospital food leaves a LOT to be
desired." Sam said laughing. "I haven't been taking much of the pain meds. I
don't like to feel so out of it."
Riley's stomach had growled at the mention of food. She hadn't eaten anything
since early morning. She glanced at Sam in time to see a slight grin appear on
her face. She'd obviously heard her stomach. Riley blushed lightly and tried to
keep the conversation professional.
"Don't be stubborn about the pain meds. You need to rest and heal. If you're in
constant pain you can't do that. Have you been up walking yet?"
"No, but I have been up in the chair several times." Sam grimaced. "The nurse said they'd have me up walking this evening after dinner."
"Good, we don't want you getting pneumonia. Make sure you ask for your pain
med at least half an hour before they get you up. You have a good size incision
and lots of sutures inside as well as out. It's going to be painful but it's important
to not let the leg atrophy and use it as soon as possible. Speaking of that while
I'm here I need to check you out."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Riley realized how they sounded. She
glanced quickly at Sam. It was a mistake. Sam had one eyebrow raised with a
little half smirk on her face. Her eyes were twinkling with mischief. Riley blushed
hotly.
"Where would you like to start?" Sam purred pulling back the blankets and
chuckling lightly. Riley met Sam's sparkling gaze and growled at her. Sam
laughed outright.
"I can see what a trouble maker you're going to be McKenna." Riley teasingly
chided Sam. Sam never said a word just wiggled her eyebrows and grinned.
Riley pulled her stethoscope out of her pocket and placed the tips in her ears.
She motioned for Sam to lean forward. She opened the back of Sam's hospital
gown and placed the scope in several places instructing Sam to breathe deeply.
As she listened to her lungs she couldn't help but notice the well muscled back
under her hand. She wondered what it would feel like to run her hands along the
prominent muscles. Realizing her thoughts had drifted into dangerous territory
she quickly completed her exam. Having Sam sit back, she silently cursed
herself when her hand shook as she slid the stethoscope down the front of
Sam's gown to listen to her heart. Glancing up into Sam's grinning face hadn't
helped matters. She listened to her heart trying not to touch her breast any more
than necessary. Straightening up she assured Sam everything sounded fine.
She lowered the shoulder of Sam's gown to examine her shoulder. While the
bruising was extensive in places, the graze wound hadn't even required stitches
to close it. Riley couldn't help admiring the muscles her exam had uncovered.
Riley uncovered Sam's leg and positioned her gown to preserve as much of her
modesty as possible. Both women turned serious when Riley put on rubber
gloves and began to carefully remove the dressing from Sam's groin and leg.
The few times the nurses had changed the bandages Sam had still been pretty
out of it. Now she was awake and anxious about seeing the damage for the first
time. Riley looked up, making eye contact with Sam before removing the
dressing completely.
"Now remember, you're only three days post op. The incision is going to look
pretty rough but it will heal." She tried to reassure Sam.
Sam forced herself to look down as Riley completely removed the dressing. Her
breath whooshed out in relief. Riley glanced up at the sound smiling slightly at
Sam's look of relief. It wasn't as bad as she'd feared it was going to be from the