In A Heartbeat

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

amount of pain she'd felt. There were two incision lines. One started right at the

hollow below her hipbone extending past the bend where her pelvis met her leg

and down to her upper thigh. There was a second suture line running right below

the bend where her leg met her pelvis to the right of the first one. It ran down the

inside of her upper thigh. Riley checked to make sure all the sutures were intact.

Sam grimaced in pain as Riley slowly rotated her leg to get a look at the sutures

high up on her inner thigh.

"Sorry," Riley said patting her hip in sympathy. The incision looked red and

swollen, which was normal. There were no signs of infection. "Everything looks

good Sam. No sign of infection and for the amount of suturing I did minimal

swelling. I know it hurts but you need to take the pain meds and use the leg as

much as possible without straining it. We'll get you a walker to start with then

you can work up to crutches." Riley said.

Sam relaxed as Riley gently applied a new dressing. She was just finishing up

putting on new tape and was so focused on not hurting Sam she didn't hear the

door to the room open.

Jess and Kim stepped in the doorway and took in the scene in the room. Sam

was lying back with one arm over her eyes as the small red-haired doctor

worked between her legs. Jess couldn't resist tweaking her sister. She cleared

her throat loudly.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything?" Jess asked in an insinuating tone.

Riley jumped at the sudden sound behind her. She jerked her hands back and

blushed even though she knew she hadn't been doing anything remotely

embarrassing. Sam's eyes popped open and met Riley's slightly embarrassed

gaze. She glared at her sister's grinning face and snapped at her. "Knock it off

Jess!"

"What? What'd I do?" Her answer was a hard jab in the ribs from her wife. One

look into Kim's face and Jess instantly sobered. "Sorry." She murmured

contritely.

Sam smirked at Jess as if to say, 'you're in trouble'.

"Hello Dr. Connolly. How's my troublesome sister today?" Jess asked trying to

take the focus off her poor attempt at a joke.

"Please call me Riley," she reminded her. She removed her gloves and smiled at

Sam gently patting her leg before covering her back up. "She's doing well.

Incision looks good with minimal swelling. She's still on antibiotics and pain

meds. She should be ready to start getting up and moving around this evening.

I'm estimating a week and a half to two-week hospital stay. She'll then go home

and into outpatient rehab."

"Hey I am right here you guys. Damn, you talk about me like I'm not even in the

room." Sam complained.

Jess and Kim both watch with interest when Riley placed her hand on Sam's

shoulder.

"Sorry Sam, professional hazard." Riley said squeezing her shoulder.

Kim sat a large bag on Sam's bedside tray. The aroma coming from the bag was

heavenly. "Real food as requested." She told Sam leaning forward to kiss her

lightly in greeting.

A very loud growling sound interrupted Sam's thank you. Riley blushed when all

eyes in the room turned to her.

"Well Sam I'll check on you tomorrow. Have a good evening." Riley had taken a

single step away from the bed when Sam reached out and took hold of her

forearm pulling her back.

"Please stay and have something to eat. I'm sure there's more than enough."

Sam gave Riley her best puppy dog look. She glared at her sister when she

heard her snicker.

"I'm really not that hungry." Riley denial would've been more believable if her

stomach hadn't chosen that moment to growl even louder. She blushed at the

behavior of her protesting stomach.

Kim spread out the food containers on Sam's over the bed table. "Come on Riley

there's more than enough. It's from Sam's favorite restaurant Dim Sum. You like

Chinese?" Kim asked ignoring Riley's comment about not being hungry.

Riley's stomach answered for her and Sam surprised her by pulling her down to

sit on the side of the bed. She tried to get up but Sam even injured was

amazingly strong.

"Come on Doc. We can't have you falling into your patients on the operating

table." Sam teased her.

Riley gave in relaxing on Sam's bed and helped herself to the food Kim had

spread out on the tray she'd slid between them. Riley moaned with pleasure at

the first taste of the wonderful Sesame chicken. It was one of her favorites. Sam

felt her heart pick up speed at the sound and was thankful she wasn't still

hooked up to a heart monitor.

Riley was amazed at how comfortable she was around the other women. They

laughed and joked comparing stories of the various experiences at the different

hospitals they'd worked in. Sam was captivated, her eyes never leaving the

doctor for long. She was mesmerized watching Riley's many varied expressions.

She frowned suddenly realizing she could easily fall for the beautiful doctor.

She'd never been involved with a straight woman and wasn't about to start now.

She knew that way lead to heartbreak. Sam unknowingly let out a big sigh,

saddened by what might've been. Riley immediately caught Sam's change in

expression; she quickly got up and approached her.

"Are you alright? Do you need your pain meds?" She asked softly in concern.

Unconsciously she took Sam's hand in hers stroking the back of her hand with

her thumb.

Sam forced herself to smile though it was half hearted at best. "No I'm fine, just

tired."

Riley suddenly realized she was acting as if she was visiting a friend and not

checking on a patient. As much as she enjoyed the company of the three

women, Sam was her patient. Riley berated herself; she again had started

thinking of Sam as a woman and not as a patient. Riley turned to Jess and Kim.

"Don't tire her out too much. She's still weak. She does need to try and walk a bit

tonight but don't let her over do."

She turned back to Sam trying to regain her professional demeanor. "I'll send the

nurse in with your pain med. You might want to take a little nap before trying

your walk. Don't over do it" She smiled at Sam unable to help herself. "Don't

make me have to come back into the hospital."

Riley quickly made her exit, waving to the women as she left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kim had been watching the interaction between Sam and Riley while they'd

been eating. Riley's eyes rarely left Sam's face when she was speaking and

even when she or Jess were talking she'd watched Sam; obviously taken with

her. Kim had interacted with many patients in her career and it was clear to her

that Riley Connolly cared for Sam well beyond her concern for a patient. She'd

thought Sam might be beginning to have feelings for the doctor as well. Now she

wasn't quite sure what was going on.

She sat down on the side of Sam's bed. When Riley left the room, Sam had

leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes. Kim stroked Sam's arm

until she opened blue eyes so familiar to Kim. Even though she appeared

outgoing, friendly, and affectionate the total opposite of Jess, in many ways she

was the same. Her emotions ran deep and she never let anyone get too close

emotionally. Many people thought they knew Sam but the truth was all they ever

saw was the tough cop persona she presented to the world. None of them had

ever seen the true Samantha McKenna. Kim herself hadn't realized the depths

of Sam's personality until she'd spent extended time with her when she visited

with Jess. It had taken real work on Kim's part to get Sam to trust her as she did

her sister.

She made eye contact with Sam. "Want to tell me what's really wrong?" She

asked gently.

Sam looked down at the blanket. Kim knew her too well and could read her

expressions as easily as she did her sister's. "It's nothing... I'm just tired."

Kim sighed in frustration; she didn't believe Sam for a minute. That was Sam

and Jess's stock answer when they didn't want to talk about something. It's

nothing. Kim had been married to Jess for just over a year and had learned in

that time when to push and when not to with both women. Now was a time to

push.

Kim reached out and gently lifted Sam's chin forcing her to make eye contact. "I

don't think so. You were fine just a minute ago. Want to try again?"

Sam looked over at Jess silently asking for help. Jess took up a seat on the

other side of Sam's bed. She shrugged her shoulders as if to say. 'Don't look me;

you're on your own'.

Sam really did want to confide her developing feelings to someone. She trusted

Kim and Jess to keep her confidence. Giving a dramatic sigh, she met Kim's

eyes.

"I really like Riley." Sam explained glancing down before adding, "a LOT."

"So what's the problem Sam?" Jess asked. "She obviously likes you a lot as

well." Jess smiled raising one eyebrow at her wife's surprised expression

obviously Kim didn't think she'd noticed.

"I'm JUST another patient, I'm sure she treats all of us the same." Sam replied

disappointedly.

Sam's head pop up looking between the two women as they both started to

chuckle. "What?"

"Honey I've seen a lot of patients and believe me I don't react to any of them like

Riley reacts to you. I'd be willing to bet she doesn't touch her other patients like

she does you. You think she goes around holding all her patients hands or

having dinner with them?" Kim said trying to reassure Sam.

Sam thought back to the times she'd interacted with Riley. The woman did touch

her a lot. Maybe.... No, it was just her wishful thinking.

"It doesn't matter. She's straight." Sam stated. This time she glared at both

women when they laughed. "It's not funny!"

Kim looked at Jess gesturing for her to take this one. "No way that woman's

straight. My gaydar pinged the first time we met. She's hot and gay." She

glanced over at Kim noting her frown. "What? I'm married not dead," she

defended.

"Well I suggest you get your gaydar fixed." Sam suggested snidely. "Cause in case you've forgotten her ex-BOYFRIEND shot me!"

Kim and Jess's jaws dropped open in shock. Jess finally found her voice.

"What!" she yelled.

Now it was Sam's turn to be shocked. "I thought you knew."

"Hell NO we didn't know! All they told us was you'd been shot and that Dr.

Connolly had been in the room. Figured it was someone drug seeking. I want to

talk to Connolly right now." Jess started to get up from where she was sitting on

Sam's bed.

"You just leave her out of this!" Sam shouted then winced as she tried to grab

Jess's arm.

Kim had been shocked by the revelation as well but quickly regained her

equilibrium. She could see Jess building up to blow. She put a restraining hand

on her arm and her other hand on Sam's. "Everyone just settle down." She tried

to calm both women lightly stroking their arms. "How about you start at the

beginning Sam and tell us the whole story."

Jess settled back in place though Kim could feel the tension radiating off her.

She only hoped Riley Connolly had left for the night.

Sam proceeded to tell them the whole story starting with the dispatch to the

hospital and ending with her being shot twice. Jess calmed down as the story

unfolded. She'd thought the doctor had intentionally hidden the fact that her ex

had shot Sam. Now she realized Riley had assumed as Sam had that the other

officers had told them. Jess sighed as the tension left her body at the end of the

story.

She reached out squeezing Sam's uninjured shoulder. "I'm sorry you got hurt

Kiddo. You did a good thing protecting her." She told Sam. Sam smiled back

reassured. Remembering the comments that started all this Jess suddenly

grinned.

"That's why you think she's straight?"

Sam blinked at the sudden shift in conversation but nodded in answer to Jess's

question.

"I think you're missing the point here Sam, the operative word is Ex-boyfriend."

Sam frowned at her sister's persistence. "No the operative word here is

Boyfriend!" Sam insisted.

Kim looked over at her wife. She had that little half smirk on her face. This is

going to be interesting.

"Really? Do you by chance remember Steve Phillips?" Jess asked her sister

wiggling her eyebrows at her and grinning.

Sam merely glared at Jess. Kim looked at both women silently questioning.

It was clear Sam wasn't going to answer. "He's a guy Sam dated and SLEPT

with in high school." Jess explained to Kim. This was news to Kim for some

reason she'd assumed Sam had always known she was gay. Kim silently chided

herself, and you call yourself a psychiatrist.

Jess wasn't done. "Oh wait, what about Charlie... What was his last name? Yeah

now I remember Falk, Charlie Falk. She dated and SLEPT with him in college.

Gee, I guess that makes you straight Sis, two ex-boyfriends." Jess told her

snickering. Sam lowered her head and scowled refusing to make eye contact

with either woman.

Jess opened her mouth to say something else but Kim poked her in the ribs.

Jess pouted trying to act hurt. Kim's stern expression said it all. Jess

straightened up and reached out to lift her sister's chin and meet her eyes.

"All kidding aside Sis, just because she dated a guy doesn't make her straight

any more than it does you. Don't make assumptions. If you feel something for

her, you should give her a chance." She glanced over at her wife. "If she's the

one its worth whatever you have to do." Kim smiled lovingly at her wife leaning

over Sam to kiss Jess gently on the lips.

"None of that you two, I know you. Next thing you'll be in taking each other's

clothes off." Sam teased trying to lighten the mood. Jess arched her eyebrows at

her wife and reached over to undo one button of Kim's polo shirt. Kim slapped

her hand away. "Behave." She warned.

The door to Sam's room opened interrupting. A nurse entered. "Sorry it took so

long to get your pain med." She offered Sam the pills in a little cup. "You need to get up and walk tonight. I'll be back in about a half an hour and we'll give it a try.

She breezed out of the room.

It was clear Sam was starting to fade on them. Kim could see the lines around

her eyes tightening indicating she was in pain.

"Hey Sweetie, why don't you take a little nap and we'll see you in the morning,"

Kim encouraged. Sam yawned in answer.

Both women kissed her goodbye. Sam was already drifting off to sleep by the

time they made it to the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley arrived on the surgical floor the following afternoon. She's been in surgery

all morning and had just finished up with the last of her surgical and post-op

notes. Several of her patients were ready for discharge and she needed to do

the final notes on them as well. She sat finishing her charts at the work area

adjacent to the nurse's desk. Something made her turn and look down the hall.

Coming slowly down the hall using a walker was Sam McKenna, Jess and Kim

by her side. Riley marveled again at the striking resemblance the two sisters

shared. If she didn't know any better, she would swear they were twins. Sam's

head came up and she made eye contact with Riley; the two women stared at

each other oblivious to their surroundings. Jess and Kim both stopped when

Sam did looking around to see what had so suddenly attracted her attention.

Jess smiled over at Kim and inclined her head to where Riley sat working. Riley

was up and out of her chair heading for Sam without conscious thought. Sam

smiled widely as Riley approached. She tried to straighten up as close to her full

height as possible. The two women stood there smiling at each other neither

speaking. Jess shook her head in amusement conveniently forgetting how she'd

acted when she and Kim first met.

"Hi Riley." Jess greeted.

Riley mentally shook herself realizing she'd been staring at Sam. It wasn't hard

to do she was a beautiful woman.

"Hi," Riley greeted all three women. Damn, I forgot how tall Jess was and Sam sure isn't any shorter. Riley thought as she craned her to neck to make eye

contact with Sam.

Sam smiled to herself. She'd known the little doctor was short but hadn't realized

how short. It was the first time they'd stood together. Riley's head came to the

middle of her chest. Oh yeah, her mouth is at just the right height, Sam's baser

side spoke up. Sam quickly shook those thoughts away.

"So how goes the walking Sam? Don't over do, take it slow and easy. I don't

want to have to put you back together again." Riley smiled to take the implied

criticism out of her words.

"Ok I guess," Sam sighed in frustration. "I'm just disgusted at how weak I am."

"It's to be expected," Riley reassured. "I know it's hard. You're used to being active but trust me, take it slow and allow your body time to heal. If you rush it,

it'll just prolong your recovery."

As they talked they slowly headed back to Sam's room. It was obvious by the

time they reached her room that she'd had enough. Riley stood by as Kim

helped Sam back into the bed. She approached the side and reached out

stroking Sam's sweat dampened hair back from her face. She was unaware she

was even touching her it seemed so natural. "You're doing great," she

encouraged. "I'm on call tomorrow so I'll stop by and check in on you. The nurse

gave me your message that you were ready for your visitor restrictions to be

lifted so I made the appropriate changes to your chart. No parties now." She

warned before heading out.

"What did she mean visitor restrictions?" Jess asked as soon as Riley left.

"I told them I didn't want any visitors. So she set it up that the only one's allowed

to visit were family."

Jess nodded. She and Kim had wondered why none of Sam's fellow officers had

been by to visit. She wasn't surprised by the request. Her sister didn't want

anyone to see her when she felt vulnerable. Jess couldn't blame her she

would've felt the same way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley's Saturday had started out bad and gone downhill from there. She's been

called in at 4am for a MVA involving four vehicles and a total of twelve patients,

six of which required emergency surgery. Even with the backup surgical team, it

had been a marathon. It was now 4pm and she'd been in surgery for the last

twelve hours. She was on call until tomorrow at 7am so decided to head for the

on-call room to grab a couple of hours sleep.

Things remained quiet. It was 8pm when she awoke. Deciding to check on her

patients, she headed for the sixth floor. She had checked several patients and

decided to pop in and see Sam for a few minutes. She heard the laughter

coming from her room from several doors down. She frowned looking up the

clock on the wall. Visiting hours had ended thirty minutes ago. She entered

Sam's room to find several police officers clustered around her bed. They were

laughing and talking to Sam and each other. Riley noticed one of the officers, the

only woman sitting on Sam's bed close to her side. She felt an irrational surge of

annoyance at the woman. Sam looked tired, the lines around her eyes tight,

which Riley knew signified she was in pain. None of her fellow officers seemed

to notice.

Riley strode up the end of Sam's bed and loudly cleared her throat.

Conversation ground to an immediate halt. Sam smiled when she saw Riley.

"Hey..." Sam stuttered slightly realizing calling Riley by her first name might not be such a good idea. "Dr. Connolly." She introduced Riley to the officers

standing by her bed. Explaining she was her doctor. The woman sitting by Sam

turned around when Sam introduced her. She nodded in greeting. Riley decided

right then and there she didn't like the green-eyed blond not one bit. She just

rubbed her the wrong way. She refused to consider just why she'd taken such an

instant disliking to a woman she'd never even spoken to.

"Okay folks," Riley said using her best doctor voice. "Party's over, Officer McKenna needs her rest. Visiting hours were over thirty minutes ago." Riley

remained at the foot of Sam's bed as the officers filed out.

One of the men leaned down to Sam. "Man, you get all the luck... the doc is hot!"

He told her quietly but not quietly enough. Riley heard every word. She tried not

to blush when Sam responded, "You got that right."

Riley noted with displeasure the blond was the last to leave. She leaned over

and squeezed Sam's shoulder in farewell saying something to her Riley couldn't

hear. Sam smiled in response.

Once everyone had exited, Riley approached the head of the bed. "Are you

alright?" She asked concerned at the tired slump of Sam's shoulders. She

placed her hands on Sam's shoulders massaging lightly.

"I'm okay," Sam sighed relaxing into Riley's gentle touch. She was hurting and

exhausted but had maintained a cheerful front to her fellow officers. "It just

hurts," she finally admitted.

"When was your last pain med?"

"Umm I forget, lunchtime maybe."

"Damn it Sam! You need to take the pain meds I prescribe. They won't help you

if you don't take them." She chastised her sternly.

"I know," Sam muttered looking down at the blanket.

"I'm going to get your meds now, I want you to take them and get some sleep."

Riley returned quickly with a syringe instead of pills. Sam raised her eyebrow in

question looking at the syringe suspiciously.

'It's Demerol, I can tell from looking at you that you over did. I want you to rest."

Riley stepped to the other side of the bed and motioned for Sam to roll onto her

side. She pulled back the blanket and Sam's gown just enough to expose her

hip. Sam flinched when Riley injected the Demerol. She rolled onto her back

when she finished. Riley put the syringe in her pocket and resumed her

massage of Sam's shoulders

Sam was soon drifting off to sleep under Riley's gentle massage and the effects

of the Demerol. "That feels so good." She murmured sleepily.

Riley stayed until she was sure Sam was sound asleep. She straightened her

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.