I loved the 501/502 McSwarek moments, but I'm greedy and wanted more! lol So, that's what we have here. You'll see some dialogue from the show since I wanted to extend some scenes. If you haven't seen the episodes yet, this obviously contains spoilers for you, so read at your own risk. Everyone else, enjoy! And please leave me a review to let me know what you think. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rookie Blue.

Not Wasting Time

Andy watched as Sam slowly woke up, pushing a breath of air out before he started to open his eyes. When he rolled his head to the side and his eyes were staring back at her, she thought it was the best thing that had happened in the last 24 hours. "Hey," she said softly.

Sam had to take a moment to find his voice and to make sure Andy was really sitting there in front of him and this wasn't a dream. "What time is it?" he finally asked.

She glanced at her watch because she had lost track of time since he'd been shot. "It's almost morning."

Sam looked around, glad it was only him and Andy in this moment, but wondered what happened to everyone after he was shot. "Where is everybody?"

"They're around. Everybody's fine," she told him.

"It's really good to see you," he said, his voice still coming out in a whisper.

"You too."

He thought back to the last thing he remembered and that was Andy telling him she loved him and he was her story. He's pretty sure he passed out after that, but it was all foggy, and now that he was awake, she had to hear what he had to say. "McNally…" He watched her stand up and waited until she was next to the bed, her fingers playing with his blanket. "I, I don't wanna waste anymore time. And I, uh…I, uh, I don't wanna be sad anymore."

Relief that he felt the same way almost caused Andy to start crying again – this time happy tears. She'd poured her heart out in the ambulance, but had no idea how Sam felt as she'd prayed for him to live. "Me neither."

Sam closed his eyes, a sense of relief over being honest with her washing over him. Opening his eyes again he saw her smile raining down on him and he couldn't help the grin that took over his own face. He was lying in a bed, just out of surgery from getting shot in the abdomen, but he was the happiest he'd been in months. And it was because of her.

"Do you need anything? Are you in pain? Water?" she asked.

He licked his lips, not realizing until now how dry his mouth was. "Water would be good."

Andy glanced around and found a pitcher on the table at the end of his bed. She quickly poured half a cup and brought it to Sam, holding it close enough so he could grab the straw with his mouth. When he was done sipping the water, she placed the cup on the table near his bed.

"Oliver was here, waiting for you to get out of surgery, until Celery woke up and found he'd gotten out of bed. She brought an army of nurses with her to get him back to his room," Andy said with a chuckle.

"She should've enticed him with food," Sam joked, cracking a smile as he looked up at Andy.

"You should get some sleep," Andy suggested, seeing how tired he looked. She was glad he wasn't as pale as he was when he was wheeled into surgery, but she knew he would be sapped of energy for a while.

Sam had to admit he was fighting a losing battle with keeping his heavy eyelids open, so he reluctantly closed them as he nodded. He was sure there was still lingering anesthesia in his body, and the way Andy's fingers were dancing along his arm that was exposed above the blankets was so soothing it was lulling him to sleep.

He barely heard Andy's "I'm not going anywhere" before sleep took over.

Andy was taking a seat in the chair next to Sam's bed when she heard the door open. Turning around, she saw Sarah walking into the room and kicked herself for not immediately telling Sam she was here. But she'd gotten lost in the fact he was alive and telling her he didn't want to waste any more time.

"He woke up," Andy whispered. "Just for a minute though. I didn't get a chance to tell him you were here. I'm sorry."

Sarah shook her head in understanding. "It's okay. Look, I'm gonna go." She glanced at her brother before looking back at Andy and seeing a confused stare. "The nurses told me about a motel down the block," she clarified. "I'm going to get some sleep. I'll be back in the morning."

"Ok, uh, do you want me to tell him anything when he wakes up again?" Andy asked as she watched Sarah back up toward the door.

"No, no. Thanks."

"Goodnight," Andy said as she watched Sam's sister awkwardly exit the room. This woman she'd just met was perplexing and nothing like she expected from the little Sam had told her about his big sister.

Sam was woken up an hour later by a nurse poking and prodding as she checked his vitals. He watched her punch a few buttons into the monitor he guessed was controlling his medication before rolling his head to the left. He saw Andy sitting in the same chair he'd found her in when he first woke up after surgery. This time, she was fast asleep, slouched back a bit with her head at an angle as it rested against a piece of equipment monitoring his vitals.

"McNally," he said once the nurse left the room. "McNally."

"Huh?" Andy woke up disoriented until she laid eyes on Sam. "I must've fallen asleep."

"Go home."

"What?" She began shaking her head adamantly. She was not leaving him. "No."

"You look exhausted," he said, not unkindly.

"Thanks," she said, giving him a lopsided frown as she sat up straighter.

"How long have you been up?" he asked. She glanced at her watch and realized it had been over 24 hours since she'd gotten out of bed. "You need sleep."

"That cat nap was refreshing. I'm totally fine." Her response got her raised eyebrows from Sam in return. He wasn't buying the front she was trying to put up.

"Go home. Get some sleep...in a bed. I'm not going anywhere." He could see her resolve falling the more he encouraged her.

She finally stood up and walked up to the side of his bed. "I can stop by your place and pick some stuff up when I come back later," she offered.

"That would be great. This hospital gown has to go," he said. "I, uh, I have no idea where my keys are though."

"Oh, they put your personal stuff in here," she said, opening the drawer of the table next to his bed and pulling out a plastic bag. "Your clothes were evidence, but your phone, keys, wallet, watch are all here."

Sam rummaged through the small bag and pulled his keys out. "You know where everything is," he said as he handed her the keys.

"Okay, pajamas, toiletries...anything else you want?" she asked and he shook his head. "If you think of anything else, let me know." She slid her arms through her jacket, reluctant to leave. "Oh, um, you sister was here."

"Sarah?" Sam's eyes went wide in surprise.

Andy pressed her lips together and nodded. "She's staying at a motel, but said she'd be back tomorrow."

"You talked to her?" he asked, still trying to wrap his head around the fact his estranged sister had come to see him.

"Not much. She didn't seem to want to talk, so I left her alone," she replied. "She was in the waiting room and stopped in after you'd fallen back to sleep."

Andy watched as Sam pushed out a heavy breath and could tell he wasn't up for talking about what was on his mind right now. Given the last 24 hours, she could appreciate that. She rested her hand on his arm to get his attention.

"Call me if you need anything else and I'll see you tomorrow...or later today, or…you know what I mean," she said when he looked up at her.

Sam chuckled. "See ya later, McNally."

Andy took a cab home and was out cold the moment her body hit her mattress.

It was nearly noon by the time Andy made her way to Sam's apartment. She was looking through his closet for a bag to put everything in when her phone beeped with a text.

Can you grab the books on my nightstand? Magazines here are crap.

She laughed at the image of Sam flipping through one of the entertainment magazines she saw littered all over the hospital. Got 'em. Will be there soon. Pocketing the phone, she grabbed the small pile of books Sam wanted.

She put them in the duffel bag she'd found, followed by pajama bottoms, a t-shirt, a few pairs of his boxers, socks, and a hoodie. She walked into his bathroom and grabbed the basics of what she thought he'd want. About to zip up the duffel bag, she looked around to see if there was anything else he might need. Seeing his phone charger, she grabbed that, knowing his battery wouldn't last much longer.

With that, she headed back to the hospital to see Sam. She wasn't surprised to see Sam had a guest, but she expected it to be Sarah, not Oliver.

"McNally!" Oliver boisterously yelled out when Andy walked into the room.

"Hi Oliver," she replied laughing. She looked over at Sam and smiled. "Hi."

Sam couldn't help the grin that broke out on his face. "Glad you're back."

"Told you I would be." She placed the duffel bag she brought on the table at the end of his bed.

Oliver's eyes bounced back and forth between his two friends, and their glowing smiles flipped the light bulb on in his brain. "Finally!" His sudden outburst had Sam and Andy looking over at him and seeing the realization on his face of what was going on with them. Andy bit her lip and tried to hide her blush as she took her jacket off, while Sam just glared at his friend.

"Okay, well, Sammy, just wanted to pop in to see how you were. I can see you're gonna be well taken care of so, I'm gonna head on back to my own room before Celery sends another search party," Oliver said. Sam rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Glad you're okay," Oliver said seriously. "You had us all worried."

"I'm not the only one. You gave us a good scare," Sam said. They shared a look, knowing things could have gone much differently after the events of yesterday.

"I'm glad you're both okay," Andy said, moving over to Oliver to give him a hug.

They said their goodbyes and Oliver left, but Sam and Andy weren't alone for long before Sarah returned from grabbing lunch in the cafeteria.

After 'hello's' and 'how are you's' Sarah took a seat and watched Andy unpacking the contents of the duffel bag into a set of drawers next to Sam's bed. "So, you two work together?" she asked.

"Yeah," Sam answered simply. He didn't want to get into their whole history right now and it had been less than 12 hours since they agreed to move forward again. He didn't want to have to define what they were to his sister.

Sarah quirked her eyebrows, waiting for more, but her brother didn't oblige. Andy's allergy for silence however had her elaborating nervously. "Sam was my TO when I started. That was like four years ago. But I mean, he's not now…my TO that is. We still work together though. And we're, um, friends, and…"

Andy was facing away from Sam as she spoke to his sister and he placed a hand on her back. It was like a magnet for her nervous energy as it drained out of her and she stopped talking.

"So, Sarah, how have you been?" Sam asked, changing topics.

As the three of them continued to chat, Andy couldn't get a good read on Sarah. She seemed even more closed off than Sam, and after Sam's story years ago about how protective he was over his sister, their relationship wasn't what she expected.

Sarah on the other hand could tell something was going on between her brother and Andy, and it was more than just the 'friends' Andy referred to them as.

Once Andy was back at work, she continued visiting Sam either before or after her shift. Sarah would spend most of the day with Sam, but often was gone before Andy arrived. More than a week after Sam was shot, Andy was sitting across from him on his bed as they played poker. They had just finished a hand and Andy was shuffling the deck.

Sam shifted a bit, wincing as the movement pulled on his stiches. "You okay?" she asked, putting the cards down.

"Yeah, just stiff. I need to changed positions, but I can't," he replied.

Andy slid off the bed and moved so she could help rearrange his pillows. Seeing he wanted to sit up straighter, she raised the back of the bed a bit as he leaned forward. "How's that?"

Sam leaned back and even the slight change in positions felt better. "Great, thanks."

She started to move away, but he grabbed her hand. "Wait, uh…c'mere."

She smiled at him. "I'm here."

He grinned back at her and she saw a look in his eyes. "Closer," he whispered.

She leaned in and Sam released her hand so his could cup the back of her neck and pull her the remaining distance until his lips met hers. It was soft and light and he could feel her smiling against him.

When they pulled apart a moment later, Andy's fingers danced along his jaw, feeling the day old stubble on his skin. "So, that was all just a ploy to do that, huh?" she teased.

Sam nudged her nose with his own as smiles plastered both their faces. "Maybe."

Andy stood up straight, all the while staring into his eyes. "Okay." As second first kisses go, she thought that one was perfect.

A couple of weeks later, Sam was getting a kick out of drunk Andy. He watched her toss her jacket and boots around the hospital room, and moved over in just enough time for her to jump on the opposite end of the bed. She started babbling about springing him from the hospital, but what caught his attention was the mention of a new rookie.

"I think you should train the rookie," he suggested. "You'd be great at it."

"Oh yeah, great idea," she said, brushing the thought off. "Mmhmm, for sure. I'm drunk."

"Well, you won't be drunk tomorrow." Although he knew she was going to have a hell of a hangover if she didn't get some sleep soon.

She thought about it for a second and realized she was trained by the best, so she would be the perfect person to train a new rookie. "I would be really good at it, actually."

"Yeah."

"Probably the best." She was going to do it, tell the Inspector she wanted to train this new rookie.

Now that he'd put the idea in her head, he knew she'd seriously think about it once the alcohol-induced buzz had worn off. "You're feet are freezing," he said, with his hand on her feet.

"No, they're sweaty. I've been competing all night," she replied, trying to swat his hand away. "They're disgusting."

He swatted her hand back. "So, you put them on my bed?" he asked, teasingly.

With mock hurt, she started to swing her legs off the bed, but Sam grabbed hold of one of her ankles. "I don't care what you say, they're freezing." He wrapped his hand around one foot, pressing the pads of his fingers into her arch and massaging.

Andy stopped fighting Sam to stop touching her feet, enjoying what he was doing too much to care how nasty she thought they were at the moment. So, she leaned back on her hands and watched him.

"So, what were you competing in all night?" he asked.

"Oh! Ping pong!" she exclaimed excitedly. "They brought in a ping pong table at The Penny and it was Oliver and me against Chris and Dov. Well, until the Inspector called Oliver away, then Gail was my partner. Gail! I mean - "

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. "Hey," Sarah said, walking into the room. "I'm interrupting. I'm sorry."

"No no no, that's okay. I was just, uh, you know, popping by." Andy sat up and tried to move off the bed, but Sam wrapped his hand around her ankle to keep her still.

"No. What? You don't have to leave," he told her. Their time was limited since she'd been back to work and he wasn't letting his sister run her off.

"I can go, really, I just stopped - "

"McNally," he said sternly, getting her to shut up. "There's plenty of room for both of you."

When she nodded, he released his grip on her ankle, but continued massaging her feet.

"I would've brought another coffee if I knew you were here Andy," Sarah said as she sat down in the chair near the bed.

"S'ok, really don't need caffeine right now," Andy replied before bursting into laughter.

Sam pressed his lips together, suppressing his own laughter. "They were celebrating at The Penny tonight, a local bar we all hang out at," he explained to his sister.

"Oh, celebrating what?" she asked.

Andy stopped laughing long enough to shrug her shoulders. "A good day. Sam and Chloe recovering. Oliver back at work." She tried to slide her foot from Sam's hand, but he only held on tighter, thinking she wanted to leave. "Sam…I gotta pee," she whispered, as if Sarah couldn't hear from a foot away.

Sam lifted his hand as she jumped off the bed and ran into the bathroom attached to the room. After watching the door close, Sam turned his head to face his sister.

"What?" Sarah asked when her brother continued to stare at her.

"You're going to scare her away," he replied.

She looked at him skeptically. "The Sam I know will run her off without my help."

The door to the bathroom opened before Sam could tell his sister that Andy was different. She made him want to be the person he couldn't be with anyone else, not even his sister. Andy saw the tension in the room, but managed to stop her drunk brain from babbling out something embarrassing. She jumped back on the bed, crossing her outstretched legs at the ankles.

"So, anyone up for a game of poker?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"No, thanks. I should get going," Sarah said, standing up. She tossed her empty paper cup into the trash. "I guess should probably say goodbye now, Andy, in case I don't see you again before I leave tomorrow."

"Oh, you're leaving? I could give you a ride," Andy suggested.

"Yeah?"

"No," Andy replied, bursting out laughing. "I don't have a car."

Sarah was looking at Andy like she had three heads, so Sam stepped in. "You can take my truck."

"That would be great. Seriously. My train leaves at eight," Sarah told them.

"Okay then. Great. I'll see you tomorrow," Andy said, now recovered from her laughter.

"See you tomorrow, Sarah," Sam said.

"Goodnight," Sarah replied as she headed out the door.

Andy let out a sigh and gave Sam an exaggerated pout. "I should go. Visiting hours must be over by now."

"Not that that's mattered before," he said chuckling. He may have bribed one of the nurses one night, told her he'd be the perfect patient if he didn't say anything about his late night visitor.

Andy sat up and leaned forward, Sam meeting her halfway. "Glad you came by tonight, drunk and all," he teased against her lips.

She pressed her lips against his as her hand cupped his jaw. When they pulled apart, Andy's free hand rested on the pillow on Sam's lap. "Ooooh, this is soft," she said, easily distracted in her state of mind.

"It is a pillow, McNally," he said, amused. It was really a comedy playing out in front of him tonight.

She twisted around until her feet were under her and her body was folded up enough for her head to reach the pillow. "I'm just...like maybe the soft will stop the spinning," she mumbled as she laid her head down on it.

Sam didn't bother to try to follow her reasoning. Instead, he found the remote to lower the top part of his bed so he was lying down. He couldn't imagine how she was comfortable in the position she was in, but he was pretty sure she'd already fallen asleep. He ran his hand through her hair and closed his own eyes.

Andy was walking down the hall to Sam's room the next evening when she heard raised voices she recognized as Sarah and Sam. She stopped her movement toward his room, not wanting to interrupt whatever disagreement was going on, but everyone in the hallway could hear the argument. She heard Sarah yell for Sam to "get over it" and reference to their father. She soon watched Sarah storm through the doorway and turn around.

"Knock, knock," Sarah said into the room.

Andy could hear Sam respond, and was shocked when Sarah walked off without replying. She watched his sister's retreating form before walking into his room. "Hey," she said softly. He slowly turned to face her, holding onto his IV stand. "Everything okay?"

"As okay as they'll ever be between me and Sarah," he said, leaning against the bed.

"You wanna talk about it?" she asked, coming to stand in front of him.

Sam licked his lips as his eyes rose to meet Andy's. "We don't see eye to eye on some things. Story for another day?"

She nodded and gave him a small smile. "How are you feeling today?"

"They're letting me walk around, so I should be sprung from this place soon," he told her. The beeping of his phone had him looking across the room.

"I'll get it," Andy said, walking over to the table where it was plugged it to charge the battery.

"Who is it?"

"Sarah," she said, glancing up at him. "Tell Andy I'll be waiting near the truck."

"Guess you should get going. Thanks for taking her to the train station," he said.

"It's nothing." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "It'll be okay…whatever's going on."

Sam nodded, even though he knew nothing would fix things between him and his sister.

On the way to the train station, Andy glanced over at her passenger. Sarah was even quieter than Sam, and Andy's allergy to silence finally took over. "Sam's gonna miss having you."

"Really? I mean, ya never know with that guy, right? Do you?" Sarah questioned.

"Do I what?"

"Do you know what's going on in his head? What he's feeling from one minute to the next?" Sarah was still in a bad mood from her argument with Sam and couldn't help but let her disdain come out.

Andy smiled, thinking about her time with Sam recently. It was different; they had changed. "I mean, he seems different these last few weeks. He seems more open."

Day after day Sarah spent by his bed and he was the same old, closed off Sam to her, but the few moments she'd witnessed here and there between him and Andy, there was something different. Sarah couldn't understand how he could be more open with some woman when he refused to reconnect with his family. "Hmm. Sam will never change," she said, partly out of spite.

She turned around and reached into the backseat to get her bag. "He's my brother and I love him, and I know he's reinvented himself. And he's saving lives, rescuing puppies, whatever. But, uh, eventually life will throw you a pile of lemons. And, uh, when that day comes, there's no lemonade. Not with Sam." She got out of the truck and decided to leave a parting blow. "He'll just keep hurtin' you, so be careful."

Andy tried to process what Sarah had just unloaded on her. Maybe she was trying to see a change that wasn't there. She loved Sam with every ounce of her being, but was that enough? The theme of her day had been to slow down – Oliver had warned her, she'd warned her rookie. Maybe she needed to take that advice with Sam.

As if he knew she was thinking about him, her phone beeped with a text. Everything ok? he asked.

All good, she replied.

You coming by?

Andy thought for a moment, before sending her reply, even hesitating before finally hitting send. Not tonight. I should sleep. A moment later, she sent another message. I need some time. Ok?

She was afraid of how Sam might take her messages and waited for his response. She just needed to take a breath, to remind herself she and Sam needed to take it slow this time. She let out a relieved breath when her phone beeped again.

I'm not going anywhere.

Sam knew it was a mistake to leave his sister alone with Andy, especially after their argument. He hoped she hadn't damaged the work he and Andy had put in these last weeks.

The next morning, Andy stopped at a coffee shop before popping by the hospital before her shift. She knocked on Sam's open door and saw him reading a newspaper. "Hey, didn't expect to see you," he said, folding the paper on his lap.

"Yeah, well…" She walked over to him and handed over one of the coffees she held. "I...I know I said I needed time." She sat on the edge of the bed facing Sam. "But I don't. I…"

"What did Sarah say?" Sam knew from her texts the night before Sarah had said something to spook her.

"It wasn't just her. It was my whole day. Oliver, the rookie…" She didn't want to make things worse for Sam and his sister, but the look on his face told her he wasn't buying what she was saying as the full truth. She sighed before continuing. "She said you'd keep hurting me."

"McNally, you gotta know – "

"No, I know," she said shaking her head. "She doesn't know you the way I do. I let it all get to me. I'm sorry."

"No apologizing," he said, resting a hand on her thigh. "I get it. And Sarah's not my best advocate right now."

Andy beamed her megawatt smile at him before taking a sip of her coffee. "So, when are we springing you from here, detective?"

"Doc's supposed to give me an update today," he told her.

They chatted for a bit longer before Sam saw the time. "You don't leave now, you're gonna be late for Parade," he said.

"Crap," she said, realizing the time. She jumped off the bed and tossed her nearly empty cup in the trash. "I'll stop by after shift." She came back to the side of the bed and leaned down to give him a chaste kiss on the lips. Before she could fully pull away, Sam tugged on her jacket to pull her in for another kiss.

"I gotta go," she said, chuckling against his lips.

"Have a good day, McNally," he said when he finally released her. He watched her throw a smile over her shoulder as she ran out of the room.

The End