It had been two more weeks and Dean had been doing physical therapy every day and every day he was getting better and better. I had stopped by to see him a couple of times during his PT and he was doing really well. He was walking but not quite completely on his own yet. I was happy for him but at the same time I was scared for what would happen when he left. I had been having these feelings for him and they'd been driving me insane. That maybe had to do with the fact that I hadn't told anyone. The secret was killing me. And it had all been like a Victorian romance filled with stolen glances and secret meetings. I was crazy about Dean and there was no denying that. I was too far gone.

I glanced into his room to see that he was watching TV. I pulled my hair out of the pony tail it was in, remembering that he liked my hair down better.

"Hi," I said, coming into his room, just to check on him although we both knew that that was an excuse. I checked his chart and everything was fine.

"Hi," he replied, happy to see me.

"How're you feeling today? Did you already have physical therapy this morning?" I asked, curiously.

"Yeah, you came in late today," Dean observed.

"Well I'm getting close to my eighty hours a week limit and so I got time off this morning. I got to sleep in this morning which was nice," I replied, smiling a apologetically.

"Oh okay," Dean replied.

"So I may not be able to come by tonight. I'm supposed to be studying for my intern exam, it's kind of a big deal," I started, reluctantly.

"Oh, what's the intern exam?" Dean asked.

"Well it kind of determines whether or not your move on to residency or have to repeat your intern year again. We all have to take it and I'd really just love to start my residency," I said, chuckling a bit. Of course I wanted to start my residency.

"Oh, well you could come here and study. I could help you if you wanted, not that you have to. I'm sure you and your intern friends are going to-," Dean started.

"No, I'd love to!" I interrupted, giddily. I was trying to hide my overjoyed feelings but I wasn't doing a very good job of it. Part of me was surprised that he said that mainly because I was hoping that he'd offer.

"I may not do a great job but I mean, I can try to quiz you or something," Dean suggested, shrugging casually.

"That'd be great, actually. I made note cards so you can quiz me," I said.

"Then it's a date," Dean said.

I paused and shot him a look, narrowing my eyes at him playfully, "It's a study date."

Dean chuckled, "You're going to say yes to me one day, you know that?" He had a cocky grin on his face that made me want to smack him and jump his bones all at the same time.

"Oh am I?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Yeah, you are," Dean smiled.

I bit my lip, trying to hide my smile. Dean was a handsome man. His smile probably should be illegal. My heart rate was speeding up and I was probably blushing like mad now. I was thankful that I wasn't the one hooked up to the heart monitor because that would just be really embarrassing.

"I'll see you tonight, Dean," I said.

"I'll be seeing you," He replied, before I left the room.

I was on a high. I was falling for this guy big time which was a good thing for me, but a bad thing for my career. If I actually acted on my emotions, I'd be that doctor that had a relationship with her patient. That was just… well it wasn't quite 'illegal' but it was definitely frowned upon and I'd look terrible compared to my fellow interns. The intern exam was really starting to freak me out and it was tomorrow so I knew I'd have to study hard tonight with Dean. I was hoping that he actually wanted to study and wasn't going to hit on me. This was important to me… and so was Dean.

"Hey, are you still coming home tonight to study with us?" Alex asked as I went to retrieve a couple of different patient charts at the nurses' station.

"Oh, I forgot about that! Um, actually, Dean is going to help me study," I replied.

"What does he know about medicine?" Alex scoffed.

"Alex, that's really rude," I pointed out. What exactly was he suggesting here?

"Sorry, yeah that was," he mumbled, averting his gaze to the window and away from me. Why wouldn't Alex look at me?

"He doesn't but he's going to quiz me and stuff," I explained, trying to get him to understand. Then again, it was Alex and he never would understand.

"Jennie, the intern exam is tomorrow. If you're taking this seriously than you better stop screwing around with your patient," Alex warned.

"What is your problem?" I exclaimed. It had become too much and I was reaching my boiling point. Alex was being a real jerk.

"My problem is you're never around anymore. We live in your house and you're barely even there. You're always with your damn patient!" Alex exclaimed.

"I'm being a good doctor!" I shouted at Alex.

"No you're not. You're spending all of your time with this one patient, not any of the others. It's all about Dean. All you do is spend time with Dean! Do you actually even sleep anymore?" he asked, proving a point. I looked away from him. Sure, I had been spending time with Dean and it had been taking up some of my free time but I didn't mind. "Yeah, didn't think so. God, Jennie, you're being a real idiot right now. It's obvious that you can't take care of yourself like-," Alex started.

"Like what?" I asked, angrily.

"Never mind. Do whatever the hell you want. I don't give a damn," Alex said storming away and leaving me completely confused. I hadn't expected him to be that mad or to say things like that. What exactly had he meant by all of it?

On my lunch break, I met Bradley in the cafeteria secretly hoping that Alex wouldn't be there. With the intern exam and with my ongoing internal battle with my feelings for Dean, I did not need any more drama in my life.

"I hate guys," I sighed, sitting down.

"What happened?" Bradley asked, curiously.

"Nothing. They're just confusing! And Alex, ughh, did you hear about his freak out today?" I asked, stabbing my fork into the pasta a little bit too angrily.

"Yeah... I think we all heard about it..." Bradley trailed off.

"I've been suturing all day that I think my fingers are going to fall off and I won't be able to take the exam tomorrow. I'm done. My career as a surgeon is over. I think Dr. Moran hates me, really, I do," Katie said, crashing when she got to the table.

"Aw, I'm sorry," I said, sympathetically.

"It's fine. I just want my pudding!" she announced. Today we had pudding in the cafeteria which was Katie's favorite. "Sorry, what're we talking about?"

"Alex, we got in a fight today in front of... everyone," I replied.

"Oh yeah, I heard about that," Katie said, perking up a little now that we were talking about hospital drama.

"You too?" I exclaimed in alarm. How many people had heard about it? Was it going around the entire hospital? I wasn't surprised because Alex had been yelling at the volume of an extremely amplified microphone. Part of me was confused but the other part of me was pissed off at him. He had no right to say those things to me! It was my life.

"Yep," Katie replied.

"I'm just surprised he responded that way, you know? And why is he getting so worked up over Dean?" I asked, frustrated.

"Well, Jen..." Bradley started.

"What?" I asked. The both of them were looking at me as if I needed to take a big step back and reexamine the situation.

"You want to know the truth?" Katie asked.

"Yes!" I exclaimed.

She sighed, "Of course he reacted that way, Jennie. He's practically been in love with you since the intern mixer. He's jealous, Jen. Look, he lives with you, works with you, you see him all day but won't give him a second look while this Dean guy waltzes in and you're already hung up on him. You spend all this time with Dean, who, might I add, is gorgeous, and I think he's had it."

"No he's not!" I replied.

"Yeah, he is. We can all see it, except maybe you," Katie said. I looked over at Bradley for confirmation and he nodded reluctantly.

I sighed, "God, I have way too much going on. I can't deal with this right now." I buried my face in my hands and closed my eyes. I just wanted to go home and curl up in bed. Actually, I wanted to go to Dean's room, vent to him, and then curl up in his bed with him. Obviously me not liking him wasn't really working.

"What do you mean?" Katie asked.

"Nothing," I muttered.

"Does it have anything to do with Dean?" Katie asked.

I paused. I wanted to tell her. I wanted to say something but it probably wasn't anything and besides, I couldn't focus on that. I chose my words carefully as I responded to her question.

"No it doesn't. We're not, we're just friends. I mean, we're not even friends. I'm his doctor. He's been here for like a month and I'm just trying to provide him with someone. His brother is gone and he's alone so I'm just trying to be a good doctor," I answered, cautiously. Even part of it was a lie. A couple of weeks ago we had established our friendship.

"Right," Katie said unconvinced.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, defensively.

"I see the way he looks at you," she replied, coyly. "He practically undresses you with his eyes every time you walk into the room. Ugh, this is so Victorian romance. The stolen glances, forbidden love... This is so hot!"

"Okay, I need to stop buying you romance novels when you ask for them," Bradley chuckled. I laughed too.

I shook my head, "Look, I just need to focus on the intern exam for tomorrow and all will be fine."

"I know, Jen, but cut the guy some slack. He's hurting..." Bradley advised.

I nodded, "I know. I will."

That night, I went to Dean's hospital room. I peeked in and then took my hair down once more.

"Hey, you," I said, coming into the room.

"Are you friends mad that I took you away from them tonight?" Dean asked.

"No," I replied.

"Really because I heard about you and that guy Alex's fight," Dean replied, amused.

"How'd you hear about that?" I asked, panicked.

"I've been here for about a month. I hear everything," Dean replied, letting out a hearty chuckle.

I laughed, "Dean this isn't funny! And for the record, that's a little… creepy; you hearing stuff about me around the hospital. I guess I better watch what I do so it doesn't get back to you."

"I knew you were naughty," he smirked.

I rolled my eyes and changed the subject, "My friends were fine with it, well minus Alex but Katie has this batshit theory that he's in love with me."

"Well he kind of is," Dean replied. My jaw almost dropped. Him too?

"He is not!" I protested, in surprise. It was my first instinct to reply with.

"Jen, I see the way he looks at you," Dean reasoned.

"And how would you know about that?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest, defensively.

"Because I look at you the same way," Dean replied, sincerely. I bit my lip to try to hide the smile. I wanted to tell myself that it was just another line he used on every girl but this felt special. It felt real to me.

I cleared my throat, "Um, we should study now." I reached down and grabbed my huge stack of note cards rubber banded together and handed them to Dean. "Here."

"Holy shit, this is a lot of note cards!" Dean exclaimed.

"Well, there's a lot on the exam," I answered.

"Huh. Am I going to be able to pronounce any of these words right?" Dean asked.

"Probably not but I'll help you out," I winked at him. Dean smile and chuckled.

"You promise?" he asked.

"I promise," I replied, smiling back at him.