"Still, she could get
sicker," stated Tina. Sam nodded.

"Absolutely."

"We could all die, at
anytime," reminded Rosita. "You play on
the streets like I did, a bullet might get you.
Cass got stuck in a building after an earthquake. Tina and Bette in an elevator, Daisy, Alice
and Peggy's limo almost fell off an overpass.
Now? Dana's got cancer, her body
was her temple, she took great care of it, but still got the big C. We don't know. That's why we gotta live like every day is
our last."

"Damn, has a lot to
say when she talks," interjected Carmen, and the game proceeded in
silence. Sam moved off to the poolside,
sitting in one of the lounge chairs.
Bette followed her, with Tina smiling from ear to ear at Bette making
chase of her prey.

"Think Bette has a
shot at Dr. Sam?" Cassandra asked her,
sneaking a peak at her tiles. Tina
slapped her hand, and Cass laughed.

"It would be nice, for
Bette to have someone," stated Tina.

"Sam isn't a bad
someone to have," informed Lara.

~*~*~*~*~*

"You really are a
secretive woman, aren't you?" Bette
asked Sam, settling into the chair.
Seeing Dana changing CD's on the small stereo that Daisy had hauled out
from the house a moment before. Quin and
Alice staying as far away from each other as they could, Shane biting her lip
as if planning something.

"Moi?" asked Sam in
mock surprise. "I guess so."

"Tell me, how a doctor
liked you, lost her license?"

A long sigh from Sam,
"Lara got pulled into some bad shit, got hooked
on some really bad shit," paused Sam. "I had a decision to make, detox her fast, or
detox her slow. Slow would have taken
two weeks, and hurt like hell. She had
an underlying condition that would have made the two weeks hell. Hospitals got a no rapid detox policy, but I
did it anyway. Thought I'd get a slap on
the wrist, but politics got in the way.
I got my license suspended for a year.
I can live without it, money wise that is."

"You miss work, admit
it," demanded Bette. Sam looked
down at the glass in her hands. Sam
nodded, "Then why didn't you fight it?"

"It would have called
attention to Lara. She didn't need it. She needed a friend to cover her ass. I did that."

"Good friend."

"We had a brief
fling," admitted Sam. Bette
blushed. She most certainly wasn't going
to compete with Lara, who was younger than her
by almost 20 years.

"So what are you doing
now?" Asked Bette.

"Odd photograph jobs,
relaxing, I went to Paris
last week. Got bored in two days, came
home early."

Bette
laughed, "Only you could be bored in Paris."

A wry smile from Sam,
"If you could go anywhere, right now, where would you go?" Bette thought
for a long moment, eyes sparkling.

"Venice,
walk the streets until dawn," what a
romantic thing to say, thought Bette. "You?"

"Right here. Right in this moment, this is where I want to
be," admitted the tomboy with a knowing smile.
Bette leaned back, sipping
her wine and falling into a comfortable silence.