RJ Nolan - In A Heartbeat

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

arms around Jess.

"It's alright... let it out, she's going to be fine." Kim assured Jess.

Finally the damn broke and tears began to flow down Jess's face. It was the first

emotions she'd allowed herself since the phone call telling them Sam had been shot. Kim

stroked her hair and continued to hold her tightly.

"God Kim, what if we'd lost her," Jess cried.

"We didn't lose her and we're not going to. You can't beat yourself up with what might have been. She's here and she's safe, we need to be thankful for that."

"I know you're right," Jess said struggling to regain her composure. "We should let her rest."

They both gently kissed Sam's forehead before leaving the room.

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

Riley strolled back into the ICU the following morning. She checked all her post-op