Riley scowled. Using the voice she intimidated residents with she demanded,

"Take the cane McKenna."

Sam turned back at the commanding sound of Riley's voice. She raised her

eyebrow in surprise. Uh Oh, I'm in trouble now she's calling me McKenna.

Seeing the look on Riley's face Sam tried to look contrite.

"Yes Ma'am, Dr. Connolly." She responded then unable to resist, grinned and

stuck her tongue out at Riley.

Sam watched with interest as Riley's face took on a calm placid look. She

beckoned Sam closer to her urging her to lean down. Sam was suspicious but

leaned down anyway. Just as their lips were about to meet Riley reached behind

Sam and pinched her sharply on the ass. Sam yelped and jerked back. She

rubbed her butt where Riley had pinched her.

"Behave." She warned.

Sam saw the sparks flare in Riley's eyes and knew this round had gone to the

little doctor. She meekly took the cane from Riley's hand and ushered her out

the door.

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

When they reached the parking lot, Riley headed toward the main parking area.

"My car's this way." Sam said pointing in the opposite direction.

"I'm driving," Riley informed her. Again Sam saw something flare in Riley's eyes

that made her pause and follow her without protest.

When she was settled in the passenger seat of Riley's Toyota Sequoia, she

couldn't help wondering when she'd lost control of the situation. She always

drove when on a date and had never ridden with any of the women she dated.

She shook her head realizing she may have met her match in the little

redheaded spitfire.

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

Sam and Riley reached the bleachers as several women warming up spotted

Sam.

"All Right! She's back," shouted one of the women.

Three women came running up to Sam. Sam had purposely avoided seeing any

of her friends. She didn't want to be seen while she was injured. Riley stepped

back out of the way, as the women swarmed around Sam hugging her. She

watched as they all asked questions at once. She felt out of place standing there

not knowing anyone. Sam extricated herself from the women as soon as she

could. She stepped over to Riley and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Hey guys, I want to introduce you to my friend Riley."

Riley stiffened slightly when all eyes turned to her. Sam gave her shoulder a

reassuring squeeze before removing her arm.

"I'd like you to meet, Ann, Karen, and Dianne," Sam said indicating each woman

in turn. "This is Riley." She told the women.

"Hi Riley, nice to meet you." Karen offered in greeting. The other women greeted

Riley as well. All three women were dying of curiosity wondering about Riley.

They knew better than to ask Sam. She never said anything about the women

she dated.

"Are you going to flap your gums all day or are we going to play some ball?"

yelled a voice from the dugout.

"Oh gotta go, Coach bellowed." Karen said with a laugh. "You coming out with us after the game Sam?" she asked.

Sam glanced quickly at Riley. "Umm I don't know."

"Any time, ladies," the coach yelled again. "And welcome back McKenna."

Sam waved at the coach and other players on the team.

"See you after the game Sam. Nice to meet you Riley." Karen said before

turning to run into the dugout.

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

Sam scanned the bleachers looking for a good spot. She saw Kellie Matthews

and waved. She'd befriended the rookie after finding her pounding a locker in

frustration one afternoon at the station house. Howard her FTO had spent the

day patronizing her and telling her how women cops could never measure up to

the men. She'd been encouraging the woman ever since telling her she just had

to get through 12 weeks with him then she would be assigned a different partner.

Not everyone in the department had such antiquated attitudes.

Kellie waved back pointing to the seat next to her. Sam headed toward Kellie.

Riley had followed Sam's line of sight when she waved. She felt an immediate

surge of annoyance when she saw who Sam was waving to. It was the irritating

blond she'd met in Sam's hospital room.

Sam had forgotten about them meeting before. She made the introductions.

"Riley this is Kellie. She's a rookie at the station house where I work. Kellie this

is my friend Riley."

Kellie stared at Riley. She looked familiar but she couldn't quite place from

where, then it hit her.

"You're Sam's doctor," She blurted out. Several people sitting near by listened to the exchange with interest. Riley felt her face go hot. Sam quickly spoke up

sensing Riley's embarrassment.

"No, she was the surgeon who saved my life. She's not my doctor." Sam told

Kellie adamantly.

A cheer went up from the crowd as the teams took the field. Sam sat down

leaving a space open between her and Kellie. She gestured for Riley to sit in the

open space. Riley's response was a bright smile. They spend several moments

lost in each other's gaze. The umpire's yell of "Play Ball!" broke the moment.

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

It was the bottom of the seventh inning and Sam's team was winning. Riley had

split her attention between the game and watching Sam. Kellie hadn't said much

during the game. She didn't seem to know many of the players. It was obvious

Sam knew everyone on the team and was familiar with most of the opposing

team as well. She'd been heckling the other team and her own teammates

through out the game. It allowed Riley to see a whole new side of Sam. She had

seen her in the hospital at her most vulnerable. This was a totally different

woman. She was outgoing, brash and boisterous totally at home among all the

women and obviously in her element. Riley should've felt out of place but Sam

had gone out of her way to include her. She'd explained who each of the players

were and a little of their history so she was able to laugh at all the 'in' jokes as

well. Riley felt slightly guilty when she happily noted Sam paid only passing

attention to Kellie and concentrated on the game and her.

Riley had forgotten how much fun a good baseball game could be and this had

turned out to be a good one. The level of play had just been phenomenal. Her

aunt and uncle had been aghast at the idea of attending a ballgame when Riley

had asked as a child. They had even refused to let Riley play in any summer

leagues. They insisted only the lower classes indulged in such pursuits. Riley's

aunt had signed Riley up for ballet lessons. She informed Riley they were a

much more appropriate activity for a young girl. Riley had hated every second of

them and quit as soon as possible. She settled back to enjoy the rest of the

game leaning slightly on Sam. Sam smiled down at Riley before placing an arm

behind her back for her to rest against it. Riley smiled in thanks.

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

The opposing team was up for last bats. If they couldn't score here, the game

was over. They had two outs already. A new player Sam didn't know came up

and hit a standup triple. She was safe at third. The second batter came up and

took a count of two and two. She swung at the next pitch; it flew inside the third

base line. It bounced before Ann the third baseman could snag it but she got it

after the bounce and fired it to Karen at home plate. The woman from third saw

the throw and tried to slide. Her anger soared when she realized she was going

to be out. Karen leaned down for the tag and the woman raised her feet and

intentionally spiked Karen in the chest. She went down hard. Ann ran over and

tried to take a swing at the player who'd spiked Karen. Her teammates managed

to stop her before she connected.

"You spiked her on purpose you bitch!" Ann screamed.

A melee quickly erupted on the field as the players from both teams began to

pour off the benches.

Sam stood up. "I've got to get down there." She quickly headed for the field

Kellie right behind her. Riley saw that the injured player hadn't gotten up and

followed Sam and Kellie to the field.

Riley approached the woman Sam had identified as the coach. She had the first

aid kit out and was tending to Karen. "I'm a physician, can I help?"

The woman looked up at her. "You're Sam's friend?"

"Yes, I'm Riley."

Coach moved out of the way and motioned Riley to take over with Karen. The

coach took off to try and help Sam break up the angry players.

"How're you doing? Where does it hurt?" She asked Karen as she started to

examine her.

Karen pointed to her chest. "It was a little hard to breathe but it's getting better

now." Karen told her in a hoarse voice.

"She must've caught you in the solar plexus. Did you lose consciousness when

you hit the ground?"

"No. Just couldn't breath there for a couple seconds." Karen assured her.

Riley checked her over. The first aid kit actually contained among other things a

penlight and stethoscope.

"Looks like you just had the wind knocked out of you. You're going to have some

bruising on your chest and will be sore but otherwise you should be fine." Karen

had managed to sit up and was looking better by the second.

"Thanks Doc," Karen said with a smile.

"No problem." Riley assured her.

Riley was still kneeling in the dirt when she felt a presence behind her. She

looked up to see Sam's flushed face and disheveled appearance; she felt a jolt

of fear at the though of Sam being injured.

"Are you okay? Did you hurt your incision? Let me take a look at you." Riley

began to run her hands frantically over Sam. Where with Karen she'd been calm

and professional with Sam she was in a total panic. Sam finally grabbed Riley's

hands trapping them against her chest.

"I'm fine Riley... calm down, I wasn't hurt."

Riley realized how she's overreacted and immediately blushed. Without thinking,

she threw herself at Sam and wrapped her arms tightly around Sam's waist.

Sam's arms instinctively enclosed Riley in a strong embrace. She stoked her

back calming her. Sam glanced over Riley's shoulder at Karen still sitting on the

ground. She was grinning from ear to ear. Sam scowled at her.

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

Sam and Riley with the encouragement of Karen and Ann decided to join the

rest of the women at the bar that sponsored the team. They all met up at

O'Grady's. They were sitting at a large table drinking beer and discussing the

game. Karen decided to see if she could find out anything about Riley. She'd

been watching her and Sam together and was curious. Sam was always very

attentive to her dates but there was just something different in her reactions to

Riley. She just couldn't quite put her finger on it. Wondering how Sam had met

the beautiful doctor she turned to Riley.

"So you're a doctor huh? What's your specialty?" Karen asked.

"I'm a trauma surgeon."

Kellie who'd been listening piped up loudly. "Yeah, she's the surgeon who saved

Sam's life."

Everyone's attention was suddenly focused on Riley.

Marcy who'd already had quite a bit to drink couldn't resist a dig at Sam's 'friend'.

She'd asked the beautiful cop out several times and had been shot down

repeatedly.

"Oh you gonna take Sam home and take out your fees in trade huh Doc?" She

asked leering at Riley and making an obscene gesture.

"You bitch!" Sam snarled as she bolted out of her chair. In the blink of an eye,

she was around the table and had jerked Marcy out of her chair by the front of

her shirt. Riley was almost as fast. She grabbed Sam's arm trying to get her to

release Marcy.