Affairs of the Heart

20

The hospital was chaotic. Henry died. There was a bad car accident with multiple victims and Callie's patient had screws destroying her heart. Ben and Miranda hadn't had a chance to actually talk with each other about their relationship. They began to think they both were avoiding it.
They were in surgery together and Ben had noticed Miranda wasn't as hard on Grey. He heard they did surgery together on George's mother. He guessed Webber knew how to get the girls to stop fighting after all. Wanting to comfort her for the loss of Henry unlike he wasn't able to for George he spoke up.

"Heard you lost one of your clinical trial patients today, Dr. Bailey. I'm sorry to hear"

"It wasn't my trial that killed him. The man suffered from Von-Hippel Lindau. That's what killed him" She snapped

Ben quickly regretted opening his mouth "Well, I wasn't implying that your trial.."

"Let's focus on the living patients, and not the dead ones, okay? Wh-what'd you do"
Their patient suddenly became tachycardic. To Miranda's surprise, Ben took charge. He quickly assessed the situation and determined the patient needed to be cooled immediately. Once it hit Miranda what Ben had already figured out she found herself being grateful he was in her OR. They just had to sit around and wait for their patient's temperature to return to normal.

"Heart rate's coming down. His temperature's starting to stabilize." Ben noted

"Usually about the time you realize it's malignant hyperthermia, it's too late. That's a nice catch. You probably saved this kid's life."

"Figured you didn't need another patient dying on you today." He smiled under his mask

"Oh, so you did it for me" She asked him

"Oh, yeah. Any other doctor, I probably wouldn't have said anything" He joked with her

"It's freezing in here" She shivered

"Well, why don't you jump up and down? That'll warm you up." A dirty image flashed in his mind and he shook it away. Now was not the time nor the place.

"I think I'll repair the liver. That'll warm me up. Suction."
At the end of a chaotic day, everyone needed time to reflect. Ben and Miranda were sitting in an empty cafeteria, tables away from each other

"I was rude to you before when you mentioned Henry" She sighed breaking the silence.

"I'm used to it. It's kinda your thing. Look, when bad things happen to you, you lash out. You want space. That's why I'm sitting way over here at my own table. I'm ... I'm giving you space" He looked at the puzzle. He wanted to be just close enough to her that he could comfort her when she came to her senses.

"I didn't just lose a patient today. I lost a friend" She sighed

"I'm sorry" Ben looked at her "Henry did seem like a good guy and Teddy and he really loved each other" he nodded

"I wouldn't mind if ... you didn't give me quite so much space"
He got up and sat down with her. He took her hand and smiled as he continued his crossword puzzle.

"You're good at your job" She looked at him "That catch in the OR"

"Well I trained hard" He nodded "I always make good catches in your OR"

"Our first patient woke up" She looked at him

"And I found out why" He added "See"

"Not bad for a gas man" She chuckled

"How about this gas man cooks for you tonight" He rubbed her hand "We still have a discussion we need to have"