She woke up in the morning and sat up in bed, seeing Garrus coming out of her shower, this time with just a towel around him.

"Wow, Garrus," she said.

"Oh, sorry Jane, I thought you'd still be asleep," he grabbed his clothes and took off back in the bathroom.

She lay back down and laughed, thinking how embarrassed he'd looked. She turned to get up and her head was throbbing. She slowly stood up and walked carefully over to her couch. Garrus came out and chastised her, "You could have fallen again, you should have waited for me."

"You're right, for the chance for you to accidently drop your towel, it would have been worth it," she grinned and started to laugh, but saw him look down and quickly change the subject, getting her food out.

"I can bring it over there if you want to eat there," he offered.

"No, I've got to go to the bathroom first," she held her hand out, "I'm steady, I promise I'll go slow. I think I'm starting to feel a bit better now." She used the toilet and attempted to brush her hair, that made it only more frizzy with the steam from his shower still in the room. She washed her hands and thought over his reaction when she'd made a joke about him losing his towel. He seemed to be more serious with her, maybe the stress of her being sick? She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Was he starting to maybe have feelings for her? She shook her head, no, that was silly. Right? She thought it over as she left the bathroom and he stood up from the table, his own meal set up across from hers. Even with Dr. Chakwas asking him, he was so thoughtful, so solicitous of her. She walked slowly to the table and sat down. "Thanks for getting breakfast ready."

"Of course."

"You working today?"

He nodded, "For a little bit, an hour or two. Then I'll be back."

"You'll have to take the walk of shame out there. You can handle that?" she said with a mischievous look.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you spend the night in my quarters, and you have to walk out there past everyone in the same clothes you wore yesterday-"

"No, I brought a clean set."

"Oh, well anyway, smelling of my peach soap-"

He sniffed his arm, "Is that what it is?"

She nodded, "And they'll all be wondering what we were doing in here."

He chuckled and looked down at his meal.

She watched him for his reaction. "That's what they call the walk of shame, when everyone knows what you've been up to and you're walking back to your place the next day."

"There would be no shame in my walk."

She froze and locked eyes with him.

He broke her gaze, "Anyway, that would be pretty bad for me to take advantage of a sick woman."

"Um, true. I hope you can stay with me a few more days, though. If you don't mind, that is. I have to admit, I enjoy spending time with you."

"You like my butler services, do you?" he gave her a sideways smile. "Don't expect me to continue getting you meals when you're feeling better. What's it called, 'room service'?"

"Well, of course, that's nice, but I – well, I enjoy your company. Especially being sick, it's pretty miserable. I don't know anyone else on the ship who would be picking up my dirty tissues."

"True. Just don't spread it around, I've got a reputation to uphold." He ate his meal and looked over at her. "So how are you feeling today?"

"A bit better. Still crappy, though."

"You look improved, I was very concerned about you last night. I barely got any sleep."

"Really? I was kidding about my snoring, but was it really that bad?"

"No, not that. I kept coming over and checking on you. I wanted to make sure you still breathing okay, that your fever wasn't that bad."

She tilted her head and smiled at him. He was something rare. She was seeing him in a completely different light. She reached over and took his hand squeezing it lightly, "You are very special, Garrus. I am so glad you're in my life."

He stopped chewing and looked at her, silent. Finally he said, "I feel the same, Jane."

Suddenly it was completely obvious to her, and charming at how gentlemanly he was being with her. Not just the past few days, but over the whole time they'd known each other. She continued eating her food and thought about the contrast of him and Kaidan. What a waste of time he had been. At least she'd been smart enough to see it finally. When they finished, she sat back on the couch as Garrus cleaned up the dishes.

"I'm going to get some work done, and I'll see you later. Make sure you message me for anything."

"Okay. See you later."

He left and she pondered about him, what there might possibly be on his side as far as an interest in her. And what were her feelings towards him? She had to admit, it was an easy leap for her from best friend to more. He had so many good qualities she admired, and seeing him on a more casual, personal level, she liked him even more. She went to her desk and did a few extranet searches on human-turian relationships. "Just curious," she said. She made sure to shut it off and went and took a shower. She came out to see Dr. Chakwas waiting for her.

"Just came for your daily check-up," she said, holding up her scanner.

Shepard nodded and sat in her chair, her robe around her. "I'm feeling a bit better today, doctor."

"Yes, I see that. Your temperature is still high, but not as much as yesterday. Your immune levels are re-stabilizing." She took a few more measurements. "Your compatriots in med-bay are a few days ahead of you. They'll be out tomorrow, but it's going to be 3 more days for you."

"That's okay, I've got your assigned nurse helping me out."

Dr. Chakwas put the scanner cap back on and looked at her puzzled, "What?"

"Garrus. You asked him to come keep an eye on me."

She shook her head, "I didn't ask him to do that. He came and asked me what he could do to help your recovery and I sent him the same information I sent you. I assumed you had asked him to come over, knowing he was Turian, he wouldn't get sick. Rather nice of him to do it, isn't it?"

Shepard nodded, "Yes, very."

"Well, I'd better be going." The door pinged and she went to it, opening it for Garrus.

"Doctor, is she okay?" he looked panicked.

She nodded, "Yes, just daily checking in."

"Oh, doctor, could you give Garrus the code you've been using to get in so I don't have to keep getting up to open it for him?"

She nodded and brought up her omni-tool, "Just sent it to you Garrus." She turned to Shepard, "Keep up the good work. You're recuperating well." She patted Garrus on the shoulder, "You're hired." And she left.

"You ever decide to stop chasing a rogue Spectre, I think Dr. Chakwas will employ you." she grinned at him.

He sat next to her on the couch, "No way. Not my thing."

"But you're doing it now," she pressed.

"Yes, because it's for you."

"Oh, I'm special, huh."

"Yes. Very."

She was struck again by his seriousness, she could feel his sincerity. She thought about the research she'd seen on the extranet. Was he doing any research as well?

"Well, how about we watch a vid." He got up and pulled her computer over on top of the table so they could watch it. He brought her a drink and she sipped at it.

"Oh, I almost forgot, how was your walk of shame?"

"My what? Oh, that," he chuckled, "I think I actually did get a few looks from some of the crew. I don't mind."

"Gives them something to talk about, anyway. Did you see Kaidan?"

Garrus looked down at her, "Yes." he frowned.

Suddenly she realized it looked like she was trying to use him to make Kaidan jealous. "I need to send him a message telling him I'm not interested anymore. I think it's pretty obvious, but I like to have closure. Especially since I'm his boss, it's a little delicate of a situation."

Garrus had seen Kaidan in the mess hall, chatting up a pretty crewman. He seemed completely unconcerned about Shepard. He contemplated telling her, but didn't want to hurt her feelings. He'd often wondered what she'd seen in Kaidan, besides the obvious good looks. He'd been able to fool her pretty good about his phony personality, but he was glad she'd started to see through Kaidan, if only for her own good.

"That's a good idea." He turned his attention back to the vid.

She pulled up her omni-tool and typed out a short message and sent it to Kaidan. She turned to Garrus, "Good, that's done."

"That was quick."

"Yes, actually, all of it was." She made a face, thinking back to the awful sex. She snuggled into Garrus' shoulder. She couldn't imagine Kaidan ever, ever doing half of what Garrus had done for her the last few days. And now to know he made up the story about Dr. Chakwas asking him to take care of her, that he'd done it all on his own. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

She woke up coughing and Garrus looking at her concerned. He handed her a tissue and held a glass of water in his hand. She took the tissue and coughed, then blew her nose in it. "I'm okay," she took the water and took a drink. "Really."

"You hungry? Want some lunch?"

She nodded. She went to bed after she ate, and slept for a few hours. She woke up and looked around the room, "Garrus?"

"Yes-" he called out from the bathroom door.

"Oh, just wondering where you were. What time is it?"

"16:00 hours."

"I've never been so lazy in all my life. This is so weird."

"I'm glad you are, you're getting better. Now that you're up, I'm going to get some more food from the kitchen and I need some more clothes."

She nodded and got out of bed for her bathroom.