Welcome back! Thanks again for all of your awesome reviews, follows, and favourites! I love your reactions/suggestions/predictions so far, so I hope you'll continue to let me know what you think.

Now, I'll give the usual recap, and then we'll find out if Sam was able to keep his promise.

Recap: Andy wakes up in the hospital after having been shot in the back of the head – she soon discovers that she's suffering from severe memory loss and can only remember the events from the day of the accident. Andy's drawn to Sam, but is confused to learn that she's engaged to Luke, a man that made a really bad "first" impression on her. While at a scene, Sam sees a stuffed animal poodle that reminds him of his conversation with Andy at the hospital – he ends up buying it for her. After texting back and forth, Sam ends up promising Andy that he'll be at the hospital when she wakes up, even though he's had enough experience as a cop to know that things can always come up last minute.

"Epstein, get in the car," Sam said. "Let's go." He checked the time again, letting out a frustrated sigh. They'd already been caught up at the scene for two and a half hours longer than he'd expected, and at this rate, he'd never make it to the hospital before she woke up.

"Swarek!"

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose, only dropping his hand when he turned to face Luke. "What do you want?"

"We need to run through the details again," Luke said.

Sam let out a small laugh in disbelief. "You want to compare notes again? Couldn't get it all the first time Callaghan?" He had a sneaking suspicion the man knew how badly he wanted to get out of there.

Before Luke could respond, his phone rang. When he hung up, there was a smirk plastered on his face. "Alright Swarek, you don't want to compare notes? You can go pick up the perp instead. We have an ID."

Sam stiffened, glancing at his watch again. "Why don't you ask the next shift?"

"Because I want him picked up now," Luke said sharply. "And I don't have time to brief the next shift."

Overhearing, Traci jumped in. "We'll get him." She couldn't be sure, but she suspected Sam's rush had something to do with Andy.

"Speak for yourself," Oliver grumbled.

Traci nudged Oliver and, when Luke wasn't looking, nodded in Sam's direction.

"Oh," Oliver said quietly, upon seeing the look on his friend's face. In a much louder tone, he added, "Yup… yeah, we'll get the guy, Callaghan. No problem."

Luke frowned. "Alright, fine. Nash, Shaw, you get our guy and—"

"Epstein and I will get going," Sam said quickly, after shooting Traci and Oliver an appreciative smile.

"Actually, I think I'd still like to compare notes," Luke said.

Sam looked over at Dov, hesitating a moment before finally looking back at the detective. "Looks like you're going to have to talk to Epstein about that," Sam said. "He took the notes… can tell you everything you want to know."

"But—" began Dov.

"He's the expert," Sam hurried out, watching as Dov's anger started to vanish. "More than capable of taking the lead on this one." The kid now looked a little smug, puffing his chest out.

"Yeah, I can tell you everything you need to know sir," Dov said to Luke.

Sam bit back a sigh, thankful that all it took was stroking the kid's ego a little from time to time to get him to cooperate.

Luke looked over at Sam suspiciously, but Sam stared evenly back at him. "Fine," Luke snapped when he was unable to come up with another excuse.

Before anyone could say another word, Sam got in the car and headed for the station to quickly change and drop off his gun. Despite getting in and out within record time, however, he found himself caught up in a traffic jam halfway to the hospital. "You've got to be kidding me," Sam growled, slamming his fist against the dash. He scanned the street for an alternative route, but the road was packed. His eyes flicked from the time to the road and back again several times per minute, his frustration growing when after half an hour, traffic had hardly budged.

By the time he reached the hospital and was dashing inside, he was in a foul mood, mentally kicking himself for having ever promised to be there when she woke up. He knew how unpredictable the job was, and he'd been stupid to think he could somehow pull it off. The prospect of her being upset or disappointed with him made his stride falter. What the hell was he even doing? He slowed to a walk and then stopped altogether.

"Don't stop now."

Sam looked over his shoulder, frowning at the nurse behind him. Had she really just said that?

"She's still sleeping."

He quirked an eyebrow.

The woman smiled, giving him a knowing look. "She fought to stay awake for as long as possible, lasted about an hour and a half before the meds knocked her out cold. Hasn't budged since. And when I asked her about it, she said she was waiting for someone; wanted him to be there when she woke up."

Sam's eyes widened and despite shaking his head at her stupidity, he couldn't help but grin. He'd been fighting what he thought was a losing battle, but he hadn't been fighting it alone. With a quick nod to the nurse, he headed straight for Andy's room, only stopping when he reached the doorway.

Sure enough, her eyes were still closed. She was lying on her side, her head resting on the stuffed animal poodle, with one arm draped up over the area that wasn't occupied by her head. Her face was relaxed and although she still didn't quite look like her usual self, he couldn't help but be mesmerized by her. The way her hair fanned out across her face; the slight upward curve of her lips despite the fact that she was still fast asleep; the way her hands looked so dainty yet could pack a mean punch… His heart skipped a beat, snapping him out of his reverie. Taking his phone out of his pocket, he snapped a quick picture of her, before finally forcing his feet to carry him forward and back towards the chair he'd previously occupied.

He couldn't help but continue to stare at her, knowing he may never get to watch her sleep like this again.

It was at least ten minutes before she stirred. Even before she opened her eyes, a smile slowly spread across her face. It grew when her eyelids fluttered open and she saw Sam sitting in the chair beside her bed. "You made it."

Sam nodded. "I heard I had some help," he replied, struggling to keep the grin off his face.

A blush crept into her cheeks and he could have sworn she muttered something under her breath about the nurse being a traitor.

He started to smile, but his face almost immediately fell as another thought hit him. "I uh, would have brought you food but I was held up at work, and—"

"Sam?" Andy interrupted, her expression becoming serious. "Shut up."

His mouth fell open, until he saw the smile forming on her face.

"I'm just glad you're here," she said a little shyly.

"Wish I could say the same about you," Sam said grimly.

"Is that why you're here?" Andy asked. "Because you feel guilty for something that wasn't even your fault."

"I was your partner," Sam said quietly. "And I couldn't even keep you safe."

"How could you?" Andy asked. "I mean, Oliver told me I'm some kind of danger magnet. He said I have been since my first shift… probably even before. So how could you possibly blame yourself—"

"I screwed up."

"Sam, I was there. I actually remember that day. And we didn't screw up; we were just unlucky."

"You could have died, Andy," Sam said. "You almost did."

"But I didn't. And even if I had, it still wouldn't have been your fault," she said. Before he could argue, she added, "Nobody else blames you. It's just you. But if you really feel that bad… if that's really why you're here, then just go." She pushed herself up into a sitting position and hurled the poodle at his head.

His eyes widened, and he barely managed to defend himself. "You think I'm here because I feel guilty?"

"It's starting to seem that way," Andy said angrily. She knew she shouldn't be upset, that she was really lucky he was around at all, but nothing was making sense anymore and the stress of it all was starting to get to her again. "The food, the stuffed dog… spending pretty much all of your time here even though you look exhausted. You need to stop. I don't blame you, so just stop all of this."

Sam clenched his teeth together. "None of that had anything to do with guilt, McNally. You want to know why I bring you food? It's because I know how disgusting and repetitive hospital food can be. And the dog? It reminded me of you. And yeah, maybe I'm a little tired, but I can sleep later. I'm not here because I feel guilty. I'm here because…" He took a deep breath, reigning in his anger before he said something he shouldn't… like that he was here because he loved her. "I'm here because I know how boring it can be sitting around all day."

"So you feel bad for me? Pity me?" Andy asked.

He rubbed his face, wondering how it had gone from one extreme to the other in such a short amount of time. "No," he said, getting to his feet. He couldn't do this right now. It had been a long day, he was exhausted, and he was really struggling to keep his emotions in check. As he set the poodle on the bed, he said, "I'll try to stop by tomorrow."

"Don't bother," Andy snapped, her eyes widening seconds later. Sam looked at her for a moment before turning and heading for the door. "No, Sam, wait, I didn't mean that."

"Get some rest McNally," Sam said without looking back at her. With that, he left. Once he reached his truck, however, he hesitated, sitting in the driver's seat for several minutes wondering what he should have done differently. All he knew was that he'd just screwed up.

Buzz.

He waited a few seconds before reaching for his phone, figuring it was probably Oliver asking if he was going to The Penny. It wasn't though. It was Andy.

Please don't go.

He hesitated, then set his phone back down without responding.

Buzz.

I didn't mean it.

Buzz.

I'm sorry, really sorry.

Buzz.

I'm just really confused... Everything is confusing. And sometimes I just don't know how to deal with it. Any of it.

Buzz.

But that's not an excuse. I really am sorry.

Buzz.

Please.

Sam read through all of the texts and sighed, though he still wasn't sure what to do.

Buzz.

I'm coming.

Buzz.

Once I find out where you live.

Sam's eyes widened. Was she serious? Knowing there was a good chance she would actually try to find him, he fired back a quick text: Sit tight.

He quickly made his way back into the hospital and up to her room, hesitating for a brief moment before stepping inside. In that moment, he knew she was dead serious about tracking him down. She'd managed to sit up completely and shift so her legs were dangling off the side of the bed. Her phone was clutched in one hand, she had tears streaming down her face, and her head was turned towards the machines and it was obvious she was trying to figure out how to unhook herself from them. Because she was so focused on the machines, she still hadn't noticed him. Busted, he typed, then hit send. He watched her read the text, blinking hard in confusion before her eyes slowly found his. He leaned up against the doorway, watching her in silence.

"I'm sorry," Andy said, her voice shaking. She tried to slide off the bed.

Sam lunged forward, caught her mid-slide, and gently lifted her back up onto the bed. "Going somewhere?"

She flung her arms around his middle, burying her head in his chest as she cried.

He took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around her. "I sort of lied… I come here because I want to see you," he said softly, running a soothing hand up and down her back. He'd been angry before, but he couldn't be anymore. It was clear she genuinely felt bad, and as much as it had sucked to hear, he was positive she hadn't actually meant it. He couldn't even fathom what it would like to lose your memory, but considering the circumstances, he thought she was handling things rather well. No doubt her attempt to stay awake earlier had left her even more exhausted than usual, and with the stress of her situation, he really couldn't blame her for snapping at him. He probably would have done the same.

"Sam?" she mumbled into his chest.

"Yeah McNally?"

"I'm glad I sort of remember you," she said quietly.

His lips tugged upward slightly. "Me too."

She tugged him towards the bed so he was sitting, but didn't let go. They stayed like that for several minutes in silence before she spoke again. "Sam?"

He frowned. She sounded so hesitant. "Yeah?"

"I don't know what I'd do without you."

Neither do I, McNally, he thought to himself as he continued to run his hand up and down her back until she fell asleep in his arms.

That's how Luke found them hours later when he arrived at the hospital, carrying a bouquet of flowers. He contemplated storming in and breaking them apart, but he knew he'd already given Andy a bad "first" impression, and if he walked into the room now, he'd only make things worse. Since Sam still hadn't seen him, Luke backed up and headed towards the front desk.

"How can I help you honey?" the nurse said.

"I'd like to revoke someone's visitor access," Luke said, leaning against the counter. "Sam Swarek."

The nurse stared at him for a long moment before scribbling the name on a piece of paper. "Well, our system is currently down, but I'll make sure that gets updated as soon as possible, okay?"

Luke nodded. "Thank you."

The nurse smiled at him, watching as Luke vanished down the hallway before exchanging a look with her co-worker and tossing the piece of paper in the trash.

Thanks again for reading! I hope you'll let me know what you think.

Up next, what happens when Andy challenges Sam in a way that will threaten his bad-boy reputation? Will he accept the challenge? And how does Sam react when Andy reveals her impression of him?