Thanks for all the reviews guys!! I was thinking about reading tonight but then I was like, people want an installment, give them an installment! I appreciate the nice words 

Chapter 4

I pull into the parking lot of Sacred Heart a little faster than I'd intended, my tires screeching slightly. I nod to Leonard at the security stand and suppress a shudder at the hook he waves back at me. I park my car hastily and get out, slamming the door none too softly. I take a second to check my reflection in my window. Tight blue shirt, blue jeans, scowl; yup, all there.

I walk briskly into the hospital, determined to grill Barbie and figure out what the hell was going on between us. Reflexively, like a knee jerk reaction, I scowl and curse at the thought of Barbie. And to think I might…like her? Oh for Pete's sake.

I was just a jumble of nerves, buzzing around the hospital looking for her. I hadn't been this nervous about talking to a girl since high school. Sheesh. I walk up to the nurse's station where Carla usually works. Sure enough I spot the Dominican nurse, gorgeous curly hair tumbling around her shoulders, angelic mouth pursed in concentration while examining a chart. I lost myself for a moment. Married. Unavailable. In love. Off limits.

I mentally go over my list of words that I have to remind myself of every time I see Carla. Pushing through these thoughts, I approach Carla. "Ah, Carla. Just the nurse I wanted to see." I flash her a toothy smile and get a suspicious look in return.

"Okay. What do you want? Your smile is creeping me out." Carla continues to stare at me as if her eyes could break me…and they could.

"I just wanted to know where Dr. Barbie was." At this Carla gives me a funny look. "Because she's just slacking off completely. I went to check on her patients and they don't even know who she is! I don't even think she's been in the rooms all day! I mean, for God's sake, Carla, someone needs to tell her that this is just not acceptable!" I bark out a nervous laugh, trailing off awkwardly.

"On call room. Don't know, don't care." God bless her, she just turns her eyes back down to the chart she was looking at when I walked up. I give a brief nod she doesn't see and amble off to the on call room. Amble being to operative word since I'm not too eager to face her.

What is it that I want to talk to her about? I need to know why she followed me into the room; if it was just to stand up to me in that cute way of hers, or if she was looking for something else…I need to know why she kissed me back. Does she feel the same way about me? I mean, I think I have feelings for her, even if they are all jumbled up in my brain, part of my brain denying their existence and the other part probing them tenderly, trying to figure out the extent of them.

Extent as in do I just want to bed her and then ignore her? I angrily brush that thought aside, realizing from the anger building in me I don't want that to happen to her; I won't let it happen to her. I mean, she bugs the hell out of me, but I sure do respect her. As I noted before, she's really come into her own as a doctor. Okay, if I don't want a one night stand from her, what do I want? A…relationship? I cringe, knee jerk reaction kicking in again.

As a Cox, I have been trained to hate everyone, keep every person at arm's length and degrade anyone who tries to breach that space. So accordingly, a relationship with a woman is not something I'm exactly comfortable with. I had a relationship with Jordan, and sometimes it was nice. We had moments of tenderness, but the bickering was so sweet that it made up for those awkward moments.

Without realizing it, I had arrived in front of the on call room. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't realize I had walked all the way to this door, the door in which Elliot was behind. Tell 'im what's behind Door Number One, Bob! A pain in the ass, drop dead gorgeous Dr. Barbiiiieeeee.

I shove out my random dialogue, feeling like J.D. with his fantasies for a moment, and knock on the door. Uh, mistake number one. No one knocks on the on call room doors and I want to seem like my normal self, not a love sick puppy. So instead of waiting for an answer I push it open and enter, eyes casting about for a short, blonde bob. Blonde hair spotted. Elliot was lying on the bottom bunk, farthest away from the door.

I mentally pull up my boot straps and walk toward her. She was sleeping. And oh my God if she wasn't a sight to see. Her lips were slightly parted in the way of sleeping people, and they were letting out soft sighs. She was curled up on her side, facing me, one hand curled up under her side and the other curled under her pillow. She wasn't covered with a blanket since doctors usually don't have the luxury to get comfortable when lying in the on call room. You collapse and hope for at least five minutes reprieve before your pager goes off or a nurse pops her head in, rousing you from rest.

I sit down gently on the bed opposite her and just watch her for a moment. I reach over to gently rock her awake, but my hand is stopped by the word she softly breathes out. "Perry…" I freeze, thinking she has woken up and is asking what I'm doing there. But I realize her voice is crystal clear, not groggy, which means she was talking in her sleep.

I wait in anticipation to see if she says anything else, but instead her lips twitch. Not twitch like she was smiling, but twitches as in she was…kissing someone in her sleep. My breath catches in my throat and I feel my own lips tugging up in a small smile. She was dreaming about kissing me? I let my hand continue over to her face and stroke her cheek gently.

"Dr. Reid!" A nurse's voice booms into the room as the door flies open. Elliot and I both jump and her face settles on mine in confusion, probably wondering if it was I who woke her. Her head snaps to the door when the nurse speaks again. "Dr. Reid, we need you in Room 343 for a-" The nurse looks to the side as if someone is talking to her. "Oh, well never mind. Sorry, Doctor. We've got it covered." She closes the door as abruptly as she had opened it.

My eyes drift back to look at Elliot, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Dr. Cox? What are you doing in here? Were you waking me up to help with that call?" Her eyes open fully and she takes in my outfit. "Don't you have the night off?"

"Uh, yeah, I do. Listen, Barbie-ah, Elliot. I thought maybe we should talk. You know, about…earlier." My voice softens and I hate myself for it. Her eyes widen and she sits up a little straighter.

"Oh, um, okay." She says falteringly, waiting for me to begin.

I take in a deep breath to steady my nerves, my heart pumping away like the flutter of a hummingbird's wings. Damn, calm down, Perry. "I just needed to know, why did you follow me? Into the patient's room today, I mean."

Instead of a vehement denial in response, I look to Elliot to see a thoughtful look across her face. "I was angry at you for talking to me like that, because I was just talking to J.D. about how I felt…about you." A small blush creeps up her face. "He ignored me, of course. I don't know what I expected from him. I thought he would act like my friend instead of a jealous ex, but I guess that's what he is, so…" She trails off at the look on my face, "What?" She asks.

"I'm going to ignore that you said you talked to Joanna about me…about us, and just focus on the fact that…you feel something for me?" I couldn't help the spread of the confused expression on my face, and I was vaguely aware that this might come across to her as me being an ass and refusing her feelings. Sure enough a hurt look flickers across her face briefly. "Not to say that I…that I don't feel that way about you. I just needed to come and talk to you about-" I was cut off by a movement from her bed.

She stands up abruptly and crosses the small space between us, sitting on my lap and closing the gap between our lips as well. Her eagerness is apparent in this kiss, and no nervous giggling was to be found. My hands absentmindedly grip her hips and I pull her closer to me, my mouth meshing with hers. I feel her hips rock against me and all coherent thought left my mind. I flip her and hurl her body down onto the bed I was sitting on, on top of her in a flash.

Instead of kissing her again, I look at her. "Forgive me for sounding like the girl here, but what does this mean?"

Her doe eyes, blue as the ocean water and breathtaking, look up at me and stated matter of fact: "I followed you into the room mainly because I wanted to know why you were intent on torturing me, when I knew you liked me." This gave me pause. I sit up.

"You knew? I didn't even know, how did you know?" I could feel the incredulous look inching onto my face.

"Oh please, I kept catching you staring at me constantly, and when you wouldn't yell at me after, I realized you weren't watching to see if I made a mistake; you were just watching." I grimace at her words. I was really that obvious?

"And you also started coming down on me a lot harder. I noticed it reached a fever pitch today, after you consoled me in the supply closet so recently." Her eyes suddenly darken with remembrance…and lust.

My voice grows husky. "Whacha thinkin' about there, Barbie?"

She licks her lips unconsciously and looks at me. "I was picturing that scene in the supply closet going a different way…" She trails off, her hand slipping up my shirt. I groan and shut my eyes tight.

"Oh, my bad...Eliot?" The door opens, again, and Ghandi was standing in the doorway, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Damn it, why did I forget to lock that damn door? "Dr. Cox?!" It felt as if a bucket of ice water was thrown on us, the intensity of the moment forgotten as we scramble to our feet guiltily.

"You better have a damn good reason for interrupting us, Ghandi." I growl menacingly. This was going to be fun, I could just tell.