Welcome back! I loved "hearing" your thoughts about the last chapter – your comments on Luke in particular made me laugh. It reminded me of what Eric Johnson wrote on his Twitter profile: "That guy you hate on Rookie Blue". Speaking of which (I've been forgetting to mention this for the last few updates), you can also find me on Twitter ( RB_ADI2DE). I try to post links to all of my story/chapter updates there.

Anyway, thank you guys for all of your reviews, follows, and favourites. As always, I hope you'll continue to let me know what you think!

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. In the end, Sam is just barely able to keep his promise, but things quickly become tense with Andy. Although they manage to smooth things over, it looks like Luke is going to try to through a wrench into the mix when he asks a nurse to restrict Sam's visitor access.

Andy fidgeted with the sheets as she waited for the doctor to come in.

"McNally, just relax, he'll be here soon."

"I've been stuck in this bed for three weeks, Sam… Three whole weeks," Andy said. "What if he says I can't get up and walk around?"

"That's a big what if McNally."

She let out a frustrated sigh.

He watched her a moment longer, then got to his feet and took her left hand in his, gently squeezing it until she looked up at him. "If they don't let you walk, we'll find you a wheelchair, grab—"

"I don't want a wheelchair," Andy whined. "I want to walk… I want to run."

He smirked. "You didn't let me finish. I was going to say, find you a wheelchair, grab someone from down the hall, and have a race."

Her eyes widened. "Yeah because I'm sure the nurses would be okay with that," she said, laughing. "They'd definitely kick you out."

"I don't know McNally, I think the nurses like me," Sam said, his tongue going to the inside of his cheek when he saw her expression darken. Was that a hint of jealousy? "You know, two weeks ago Callaghan tried to restrict my access, make it so I couldn't see you. Yet, I've walked in here everyday since and nobody has tried to stop me."

She wanted to ask why Sam and Luke seemed to hate each other so much, and what could have possibly driven her fiancé to trying to restrict Sam's access, but right now, another question was burning on her lips. "Did you flirt your way in here?"

Sam's mouth fell open slightly. "No." Why would she even think that?

Andy's eyes narrowed as she studied him.

He couldn't help but smile at the expression on her face. He'd seen her jealous before, but most of the time she tried to cover it up with excuses. Right now though, she was an open book. The notion that Andy was jealous because she thought he'd flirted with another woman had his dimples appearing.

"Like that." Andy released his hand and pointed to his face. "You used those, didn't you?" she accused.

Sam couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling over. He'd never viewed jealousy as an attractive quality in a woman, but with Andy, it was somehow… adorable? With her, it meant she cared and that meant he hadn't lost her. "McNally, I didn't do anything, I swear."

She was still studying him when Dr. Nyman came in moments later.

"Alright, Miss McNally, it looks like you're healing nicely. Test results indicate improvement in all areas, except for your memory, but I don't see any reason to keep you tied down, so you're cleared to start walking. Just—"

Andy flung the sheets back and swung her legs off the side of the bed, practically throwing herself from it. Although her feet landed firmly on the floor, the force caused her knees to buckle.

Sam caught her as she wobbled, inadvertently drawing her closer to him… much closer than was necessary. When he felt her body up against his, he froze, his mind racing. Should he let go of her? Gently push her away? Apologize? In the end he did nothing. She showed no signs of wanting to move. In fact, she hadn't moved either one of her hands away – one was curled around his arm and the other was resting up against his chest.

Dr. Nyman cleared his throat. "As I was about to say," he said sharply. "Take it easy. Don't overdo it. And use someone for support."

Andy buried her head in Sam's chest as a blush crept into her cheeks and her fingers gripped his shirt a little tighter. There was a brief spell of silence before she could hear receding footsteps. "Is he gone?" she mumbled into his shirt.

He hesitated for a fraction of a second, not wanting to let her go. "Yeah."

She pulled her head away and looked up at him, but still hadn't moved back. "I umm…" Her mind momentarily blanked as his breath fanned out across her face.

"You can walk?" he supplied, his voice taking on an unusually soft tone.

"I can walk," she echoed, her eyes still locked on Sam's face.

God she was beautiful. "I guess that means no wheelchair races?" he teased.

Andy gave a small nod. "I guess that means you can stay," she replied shyly, biting down on her lower lip.

A noise out in the hall made her to jump, her own skittishness causing her to giggle. It was only then that she realized she'd been clutching Sam's shirt in one hand while the other had shifted a little higher up on his arm. With that realization came the nerves, a whole lot of them. "Umm… so… I uh, I guess we should go then?" Andy said, gesturing toward the door. She untangled herself from him and stepped back, pressing her lips together as she blushed.

"If you promise not to overdo it," said Sam. As much as he wanted to make her happy, he knew how she could be, and he really didn't want her to go overboard and delay her recovery.

She looked over at the IV pole. She knew she'd be free of it later that day, but for now, it was going to make things a little more challenging. "Uh huh," she muttered, grabbing the pole and ushering Sam towards the door. At this point she'd probably agree to anything if it meant being able to get off the bed and out of her room.

He looked over his shoulder at her and smirked.

"Oh," Andy said, stopping rather abruptly when they were only halfway to the door. She turned back and grabbed the poodle off the bed.

Sam quirked an eyebrow. Was she seriously going to bring that thing?

Andy shrugged as she walked back to him. "Someone might snag it." When she was by his side, she held the poodle out to him.

He stared at her outstretched arm, his eyes flicking to the poodle in her hand and then up to her face. She was smiling up at him, the expression so full of innocence and sweetness, yet the gleam in her eyes suggested she was up to something.

His eyes flicked back down to the poodle, then back up to her face again. There was no way in hell that he was going to be caught dead carrying that thing.

"I can't carry it," Andy said, her tone every bit as sweet and innocent sounding as the smile that was still plastered on her face. "I need to pull this stupid thing around," she explained, gesturing to the IV pole. "And, the doctor even said if I want to walk around, I need to hold onto someone... I mean, I guess I could find someone else."

Sam shook his head. "No," he said, his eyes flicking back to the white fur. "Nope. Absolutely not. No way."

"Pleeeeeeeaaaase Sam," Andy said, pouting a little as she pushed the poodle into his chest.

He wanted to shake his head, say he wouldn't carry the thing, but as he looked down at her, the sudden urge to kiss the pout off her face had him taking hold of the stuffed animal, using both hands so he wouldn't find one straying to her face. Traci had been right: he had it worse for Andy now than he did before. The grin that was now spreading across her face made it worth it though.

Andy reached out and took his arm, surprised by how tense he suddenly seemed. As they made their way out of the room, she looked up at him again, frowning. "Are you okay?"

Sam looked over at her, doing his best to keep a neutral expression. Was he okay? No. No he wasn't. In the last few minutes alone, he'd wanted to kiss her at least twice. Not that he hadn't thought about kissing her before, but this time he'd almost given into that desire. He pushed the thought aside. "Yeah. You?"

She studied him for another moment before focusing her attention on putting one foot in front of the other. "I'm fine."

He stared at her a moment longer. She didn't sound fine.

"Can I help you?" the nurse behind the desk asked.

"Yeah, my fiancé, Andy McNally, isn't in her room," Luke said. "Where is she?"

The nurses exchanged glances. They'd seen Sam and Andy walk down the hall less than ten minutes ago. "I think she's downstairs having some tests done. It might be awhile, but you can wait in her room if you'd like."

Luke glanced at his watch. "I'm actually running late. Could you let her know I stopped by?"

The nurse nodded. "Of course."

As soon as Luke was gone, the nurses looked at each other. "You just lied to a cop."

The first nurse stared back. "I don't know what you're talking about," she replied.

The other one grinned. "What did he want again?"

"I think he was looking for the washroom."

They slowly made their way up and down the various hallways within the hospital. Sam could tell Andy was starting to get tired, but the smile on her face made him hesitant to put an end to their walk. Nevertheless, he knew there was a risk in overdoing it, so he turned them around. As they rounded the last hallway to get back to her room, a loud laugh startled them. They both looked up in time to see Oliver snapping a picture of them on his phone.

"Nice dog Sammy," Oliver said, grinning.

Sam glared at him. "You show anyone that picture and you're a dead man Ollie."

"Oh come on brother, you can't expect me to keep this gem all to myself," Oliver replied, stepping up and embracing Andy.

Sam's eyes widened as he watched.

Oliver noted his expression and shrugged. "I've been giving her dirt on you for the last couple of weeks."

All Sam could do was stare at his friend. He had no idea Oliver had been visiting Andy, and he could only imagine what the guy was filling her head with. His eyes slid over to her, noting the guilty expression on her face. She tried to smile at him but when it came out awkward and nervous-looking, he couldn't help but laugh. Wanting to lighten the mood, he turned to Oliver. "Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure I've got plenty of dirt on you to keep her entertained for the rest of her life. Like the time at the academy when you—"

Oliver's jaw dropped. He knew exactly what Sam was going to say. "No, no, no, McNally doesn't want to hear about that."

Andy looked from Sam to Oliver and back again, a genuine smile now gracing her face.

"You know what, I think I have to get back out there," Oliver said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "Just thought I'd stop in and see how you're doing… Glad to see you're up walking." He hugged Andy again, then gave Sam a look before winking and leaving.

As soon as Oliver was out of sight, Andy bit her lip and looked up at Sam. "He's uh… he's been coming every couple of days or so, sometimes just for a few minutes, but sometimes longer."

Sam nodded and nudged her so she'd start walking again. He was surprised she hadn't told him, but really, he was her partner and that didn't mean he was entitled to know everything about her, even if he wanted to.

"And umm, Traci brought…" Andy paused, struggling to remember. "Dov and Chris with her."

"What do you think of them?" Sam asked.

"Chris is pretty serious. He seems like he could be fun, but he's just so… proper? And Dov is hilarious." She paused. "I like them though, but the way Dov talks about work, I think I see why they're all worried you're going to kill him."

He quirked an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.

She bit her lip and tried to pretend she hadn't noticed.

"McNally?"

"Sam?" she said, trying to imitate the innocent and sweet smile she'd used before.

He bit back a smile of his own as he stared her down.

"Okay, okay," she said. "Really though, it's nothing. You're both just so different. I mean, Dov seems like he just does things, just acts. He's so carefree…"

"And I'm not?" he asked, looking back down the hallway.

"You're… you're more methodical," Andy said slowly. "Not in the sense that you follow procedures or whatever because Oliver's told me you aren't exactly one to follow rules." She hesitated. "You just seem very guarded at times, like everything you do is so deliberate… thought out."

He continued to stare straight ahead, schooling his features. He might be guarded, but most of the time he found himself reacting to things rather than thinking about them, especially when it came to her. "I was caught holding your poodle. How thought out do you think that was?"

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, staring at the ground. She'd noticed the obvious shift in his mood, but had no idea how to fix things.

A quick glance in her direction told him she felt really bad. With a gentle tug on her arm, he got her to stop walking. When she still hadn't looked up at him, he tucked the poodle under his arm and put a hand under her chin and tilted it up. "I'm not mad, okay?"

She nodded, but still wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Besides, it was worth it."

Andy's eyes flicked upward. She searched his face for a moment before the corners of her mouth tugged upward. "Really?" she asked before nervously biting down on her lower lip.

Sam nodded. He knew Oliver wouldn't let him forget the poodle anytime soon, but a little bit of embarrassment meant he was able to hold Andy close for a short time.

After a hesitant moment, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. He didn't even think; he just hugged her back as if it was the most natural thing in the world, as if they'd done it countless times before.

"I didn't mean any of it in a bad way," Andy said quietly.

Instead of giving a verbal response, he pulled her tighter to him, his heart rate speeding up as she rested her head on his shoulder. They stayed like that for several minutes, neither one wanting to pull away.

"You must be Sam."

He looked up at the nurse who had spoken, feeling Andy tense at the same time. "Uh, yeah," he said, frowning. He didn't recognize the woman, but she obviously recognized Andy. "Can I help you?" he asked, confused. With the way they were wrapped up in each other's arms, he was a little surprised that the woman hadn't assumed he was Luke… unless it was really that obvious that he wasn't Andy's fiancé. The thought that he could never be what Andy needed him to be made his face fall, and with it, his heart.

The woman smiled at him, nodded to Andy, and said, "This one talks about you all the time."

Sam looked down at Andy and even though he couldn't see her face, he suspected she was glaring at the woman. The nurse merely smiled wider. As she passed by, she whispered in Sam's ear, "We're rooting for you."

He stared at the woman for another moment, watching as she nudged another nurse and pointed to them before grinning. His thoughts briefly went back to when they'd told him about Luke's request to deny him visitor access. Maybe hospitals weren't so bad after all. A small smile crept onto his face as he looked down at Andy.

She slowly pulled her head away from his shoulder and tilted it upward to look at him.

He swallowed hard. Her lips were just inches from his, and his self-control was wearing thin.

"I… I don't talk about you all the time," she said.

He tried not to grin at her obvious lie, but in the end he lost the battle. "Okay McNally."

She rolled her eyes.

They were too close. If he didn't let go of her now, he was positive he was going to kiss her and he really wasn't sure if the Andy with memory loss could handle it any better than the Andy who remembered everything. He had to do something, and he had to do it fast. "So are we going to stand here all day, or do you want to finish walking back?"

She absentmindedly nodded.

"Uh," Sam said, though he didn't have anything beyond that. He could tell she was hesitant, yet he suspected it had nothing to do with being tired or not being able to walk anymore. The thought made it even hard to step back. Taking a deep breath, he managed to remove one arm from around her, intending to drop it entirely, but his head and body weren't cooperating.

His hand slowly moved up to her face and gently pushed away some of the hair that had fallen forward. But even after the hair was tucked behind her ear, his hand lingered. Her big brown eyes were now fully focused on his face, her grip unconsciously tightening. He was very aware of it though. "McNally," he said, his voice coming out a little lower than usual. His heart was pounding heavily in his chest and with her breath cascading out onto him, he was having trouble thinking, but it was clear that she was affected too. Her breathing was definitely a little heavier than it had been moments ago. His hand slid from her face to the back of her neck, noting how she seemed to move a little closer to him. His eyes flicked to her lips and Sam found himself being drawn in, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly as he heard her breath hitch. He leaned in a little more, but before his lips could reach their mark he was slammed back to reality, one where Andy was still engaged to Luke. At the last second he turned his head away and leaned to the side, gently turning her head as if to examine it. "Looks better," he choked out. "How does it feel?"

He waited a few seconds, attempting to regain control, before he pulled back to look at her face, this time breaking contact with her completely.

She blinked hard. What had just happened? "It's… it's fine."

Sam silently cursed himself upon seeing her confusion. When she finally looked up at him for answers, he had to look away. With the exception of the night of the blackout when she'd shown up at his house, he'd always managed to maintain control – this was the closest he'd come to losing it again. Except, this time it was worse. He was making an already confusing situation even more complicated for Andy, and for himself. "Good," he finally managed. "Ready to go back?"

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

So… Was Sam right to back off, or do you think he should have gone for it and kissed Andy?

Up next, Andy's released from the hospital, which means she's headed back to live with Luke. But, how will she react to her own home and her old life, and where does Sam fit in?