stand up.

Sam placed a restraining hand on her arm. "Please don't go." Sam pleaded

softly.

Riley couldn't quite see Sam's eyes in the dim light but she could hear the plea

in her voice

"Okay, just for a little while then you need your rest." She said drawing one leg up onto the bed and settling a little closer to Sam. Her thigh was just touching

Sam's hip.

"Tell me about Keith," Sam requested quietly.

Riley tensed at the mention of Keith. Her mind flashed back to the awful moment

in the trauma room when Sam's body slammed into hers and she realized Keith

had shot her. She glanced down finally noticing that Sam was stroking her leg

softly. She knew what Sam was asking but didn't know where to start. She

decided to start at the beginning. Riley tried to clear the lump in her throat before

speaking.

"I met Keith at a dinner party given by a friend. I didn't realize 'til after I arrived it was a set up. My friend was worried that I spent too much time working and

wasn't dating so decided to 'help' me out. My schedule doesn't leave a lot of time

for a personal life." Riley knew that wasn't totally true but left it at that for the

time being. "He asked me out and we started dating. I knew from the start we'd

never be more than friends. It just seemed... I don't know convenient to have

someone so I could say, 'See I'm dating'." Riley could see Sam's frown and

knew she sounded callous but she wasn't willing to admit she dated him just to

keep her uncle happy. "Keith wanted to escalate our relationship beyond

friendship." Riley started to stutter slightly. "I just couldn't do that again. I'd tried, really tried in the past but it just never worked. My interests lay elsewhere." She

looked trying to see into Sam's eyes. "And they always have." She added in

almost a whisper. Sam gently squeezed her leg in understanding. She wasn't

sure Riley was going to say anything else. Sam lay quietly with one hand on

Riley's leg trying to absorb everything she'd told her.

"I broke it off with Keith after a month. I told him we just weren't right for each

other. He refused to accept that. He tried for a month to get me to go back to

him. I repeatedly refused. I'd finally decided to stop trying to be something I'm

not. I went out on a date with a woman I met at a health club. It was nice and I

finally felt like I was being true to myself. I didn't know then that Keith had taken

up following me. He followed us the second time we went out and saw the

woman kiss me good night. He went ballistic and accused me of making him a

laughingstock dumping him for a woman. He turned my world into a nightmare

from that day forward. There were phone calls at all hours of the night and he

followed me everywhere. Threatening letters were sent to my home and work.

My SUV was vandalized several times. I went to the police but could never

prove it was him. After one of the staff witnessed him breaking my windshield I

was finally able to get a judge to issue a restraining order. He was served with

the order only hours before he showed up in the ER. You know what happened

after that." Riley looked down at the floor. All her guilt over the whole incident

overwhelmed her. The knowledge that she was responsible for Sam being so

badly injured haunted her. She lifted tear-filled eyes to Sam. "I'm so sorry I got

you shot. It's my fault you're in this bed."

Sam sat up and gently pulled Riley into her arms. Riley resisted for a second

then her resolve broke and tears poured down her cheeks. She wrapped her

arms around Sam's waist snuggling into her chest. Riley knew she should pull

away but couldn't force herself out of the comforting embrace. Sam hugged

Riley to her chest, stroking her hair gently.

"Now you listen to me Riley Connolly. It was NOT your fault. Keith was obviously

disturbed. Normal people don't stalk their ex-girlfriends. You didn't get me shot.

Keith shot me. He was going to kill you Riley. I've been in those situations

before. I couldn't let that happen."

Both women were quiet for a while. Sam enjoyed the feel of Riley in her arms

and Riley savored the comfort offered by Sam's warm embrace. Sam inhaled the

sweet scent of Riley's hair and unable to resist leaned down and kissed the

crown of her head. Riley tightened her arms around Sam's waist. Sam nuzzled

Riley's hair then placed a lingering kiss on her forehead. Riley's head came up

and their eyes met in the dim light. What had started out as a simple offer of

comfort was quickly becoming something else. Sam watched for any sign of

resistance as she slowly lowered her lips to meet Riley's. The kiss was gentle

and undemanding. Sam lifted her head and stared into Riley's eyes waiting for

her reaction. Riley was dazed, the feelings racing through her body were

amazing. No one had ever roused such feelings in her with a simple kiss. She

forgot about everything and leaned up wanting to feel those amazing lips again.

Sam grinned before meeting Riley's lips. This kiss quickly became passionate.

Sam lightly licked Riley's lips pressing for entrance. Riley opened her mouth

moaning as Sam's tongue slid in and started to explore. A sudden loud banging

in the hall caused the women to break apart.

The sound snapped Riley out of the sensual haze she'd been in. She stiffened

and pulled back out of Sam's arms. "Oh my god, Oh my god." She muttered as it

sank in just what she'd allowed to happen. She panicked realizing not only had

she been passionately kissing a patient but they were sitting on her hospital bed

where anyone could've walk in.

"We shouldn't be doing this. I can't do this, I'm your doctor." She told Sam

tearfully getting off the side of the bed and backing away. "I have to go."

"Wait Riley, don't go," Sam called. Riley ignored her as she fled the room. Sam

pulled back the blankets intent on going after her. Forgetting her injured leg, she

jumped out of the bed. When her full weight landed on the injured limb, she

gasped as pain shot down her thigh. She leaned against the bed gasping for

breath. Knowing there was no way she could chase after Riley she eased

herself back into the bed. Sam felt tears of pain and frustration roll down her

cheeks. She couldn't believe after the kiss they'd shared Riley had just run out of

the room. So what if I'm her patient, Sam thought defiantly, that's only

temporary. I'll be out of here soon. Sam had so many questions bombarding her

mind. Had Riley ever been with a woman? Had she scared her with the kiss?

Was she seeing someone? Sam pushed all the disturbing questions away

forcing herself to relax. She finally drifted off to sleep with thoughts of how

wonderful it felt to hold Riley in her arms and taste her sweet lips.

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

Riley made her way to the on-call room keeping her head down hoping no one

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