Bella was pacing her bedroom. She looked up as Grace walked in. "Hey. What's wrong?" She asked as she sat down.
Bella sighed. "I think I need to tell Mark about the baby. It's not fair that he doesn't know. And things are going great with us. But I don't know if he'll hate me," she said.
Grace smiled. "This is Sloan. He wouldn't ever hate you Bella," she told her.
Bella looked to her. She sighed. "I don't know. He's never had a proper family. He spent most of his life at my mom's. I got close to him when I was sixteen. But nothing ever happened until I was past eighteen."
Grace smiled. She looked to her. "You don't have to explain to me Bella. I just want you to be happy," she told her.
Bella fell back on her bed. "I'm going to tell him today. I want it to work. So there can't be any secrets between us," she said as she looked to the ceiling.
"When did you get mature?"
"Since I realised that keeping this from Mark isn't the best thing for our newly reformed relationship," Bella said as she sat up. "Are you and Derek still having goodbye sex without actually breaking up?"
Grace rolled her eyes. "I like an orgasm. Is that a crime?"
"Hey. I'm not judging. Just curious," Bella said with a smile. Knowing how she wanted her best friend to be happy.
****
Bella stood at the nurses station with Alex and his interns. Alex turned to them. "Pierce, you're in the pit. James, need you in Peds. Laura, you're on scut," he told them.
"I was on scut yesterday," Laura said as she looked to her resident.
Alex turned to look at her. "Oh. And just for that, you're on scut tomorrow. Get lost," he said.
Bella grinned. "Wow. Little harsh. Are you trying to be the new Bailey?" She asked.
"Shut up."
"Make me... evil spawn."
Alex laughed. Bella and Grace were the two people he was closest with. And he loved their friendship.
The chief walked over to them. "Dr Shepherd, Dr Karev. This is Dr Norman Shales," he told them.
Bella and Alex shook his hand. Norman smiled as he looked to Alex. "Oh, a strong handshake. That's a good sign," he said. He turned to Bella. "You have a feminine handshake."
Bella blinked as she looked to him. "That's probably because I'm a girl?"
Richard looked between the two residents. "Norman is transferring in from UCLA. I want him to work with you," he told Bella
"Oh, are you the new OBGYN guy?" Alex asked as he handed the nurse a file.
"I don't have a specialty yet."
Richard shook his head and smiled. "Norman is an intern. You'll be his resident Alex."
Alex's eyes widened as he looked to the chief. "He's my intern?" He asked as he saw the smirk Bella was giving him.
Norman smiled. "Don't worry, son. This tugboat's ready to pull his own weight," he said.
Bella grinned and winked. "Oh don't worry Alex. Age is just a number right Norman?" She said with her grin still plastered on her face.
"Absolutely."
****
Mark found Bella and smiled. "Hey. You okay?" He asked.
Bella nodded and sighed. "I'm good. Don't worry. Hey. Can I come over tonight? There's something I need to tell you," she told him.
"Doll you can always come over. Is everything okay? I haven't slept with any nurses," Mark said.
Bella laughed. "I know you haven't. I just need to talk to you," she said as she kissed his lips. "Tonight."
"Okay."
****
Bella walked into a patients room with Mark, Grace. Connie , the patient smiled. "Oh, Joanne, this is why you and I need to get sick, these doctors."
The friend smiled. "One's more handsome than the next," she said looking between Bella and Grace.
"Oh, and here comes the handsomest one of them all. Hi, Dr. Webber," Connie said as chief Webber walked in.
"Connie."
Connie smiled. "He took my appendix out three years ago. Barely left a scar. How's Adele?"
"Um, oh, she's good, good. Uh, marriage is hard. Uh, but we're dating again. Uh, and she agreed to date me tonight...but, um...more...more importantly, how...how are you doing?" Richard asked.
Connie smiled. She looked to her old friend. "Oh, I just had a little bump on my tongue removed is all. Couple of taste buds. Turns out it was a little touch of cancer. So I'm here to have the rest out. I mean, you know, the cancer, not the taste buds. I don't know exactly how bad it is because Dr. Sloan over there has been awfully quiet," she said with a look to Mark.
Joanne laughed. "Cause you don't let him get a word in edgewise is why."
Richard turned to look at Mark "Uh, how is she, Dr. Sloan?" He walked.
Mark nodded and spoke. "Well, we just got back the pathology report. Connie, unfortunately, the cancer is a bit more widespread than we'd hoped. It's over 60% of your tongue," he told her.
"Well, what... what does she do, chemo?" Joanne asked.
"I think the, uh, best bet is a micro-vascular free flap. Dr. Shepherd?" Mark said as he looked to his girlfriend.
Bella thought for a moment and spoke. "Uh, he'll remove the cancerous part of the tongue, and then reconstruct it with a strip of flesh from your legs. Grace?"
George took over and smiled. "The extra flesh will provide the bulk your tongue needs to breathe properly, chew, swallow."
"And talk? Dr. Sloan...I'll be able to talk, won't I?" Connie asked, looking at Mark.
Mark sighed. "You will be able to talk, Connie. I just don't know how well you'll be understood," he told her.
"You'll be okay."
****
Grace walked over to Bella. She smiled. "Hey. Really old guy woke up. Izzie is making a big deal out of it," she said.
Bella rolled her eyes. "Of course she is."
"Is everything okay?" Grace asked. She saw the look on Bella's face.
Bella nodded. She smiled. "Yeah. I told Mark I need to talk to him tonight. The first thing he said was that he hasn't slept with any nurses," she said.
Grace grinned. "I love how that's automatically the first thing he thinks you're talking to him about."
"I know. I'm scared. I don't want him to hate me," Bella mumbled.
"I've told you. He won't hate you. You're unhateable," Grace said with a grin.
****
Bella and Mark were standing at the nurses station. Webber walked over to them. "Functional muscle transfer," he said.
Both of them turned to Webber. "What?" Mark asked. Discreetly moving his hand from off of Bella's waist.
"For Connie Williams I was reading up on glossectomies. And saw the procedure. Could micro surgically re-innervate her hypo-glossal nerve," Webber told them.
Bella frowned. "A nerve graft? Isn't that too risky? A free flap would be the best bet," she commented.
"Oh even if that goes well, you and I both know she'll never speak the same. That woman loves to talk more than anyone I know," Webber said.
George walked over to them. He smiled. "What's a functional muscle transfer?" He asked.
Webber turned to look at him. "You won't find it in the books O'Malley. It's cutting edge. You connect the nerves from the leg with the nerves from the tongue. Gives her a shot at really speaking," he told him.
Mark shrugged. "If it works. They've only done half a dozen of them," he said.
"Better than none. Sometimes you gotta push the envelope Sloan," Webber said.
George looked between the two of them. "Why? Why is it better to do a surgery that neither of you have done. Than to do a surgery that you know at least gives her a chance to have a normal life? Do you know how to do this procedure?"
Bella grinned. "Georgie. Are you saying that they are too old to learn new ways?" She asked.
"No."
"Are you saying we're old dogs who can't learn new tricks?" Webber asked.
"No. I just..."
"We're not old dogs," Mark said. He knew how Bella was trying to not laugh.
"We still got it."
Mark nodded. "I did do a functional muscle transfer to restore elbow function once," he said.
Webber frowned. "Elbow, tongue... that's pretty close. Come on. What do you say? Let's light this candle," he said.
Mark nodded and smirked. "Yes sir."
"Age is just a number O'Malley," Webber said as he walked off.
"Oh. Yes sir."
Mark grabbed Bella's waist and groaned. "Baby. Am I really that old?" He asked.
Bella raised her eyebrows. She shook her head. "No you're not. You're incredibly handsome," she said as she kissed his cheek and walked off.
****
Mark and Derek were in an office. "Do you ever feel old?"
Derek turned to him. He shook his head. "I'm young. I'm a fetus," he said.
"Nah, I mean you ever feel like there's gonna be a time when new techniques pass you by?" Mark asked as he looked to him.
"I'm a genius and a scholar."
"Shut up."
Derek sighed. He looked to his friend. "Grace isn't telling Bella about us. And, well, she tells my sister everything," he said.
Mark frowned. "I thought you broke that off? And I'm pretty sure she has told your sister. From what I hear, they tell each other everything," he commented.
"I meant to."
"You think she's gonna want to get back together?" Mark asked.
Derek shook his head. "No."
Mark smirked. "You think she's gonna grow up and get all whole and...want a relationship?"
"I do not."
Mark laughed. "You're a bad liar."
"You're old," Derek said as he went to walk off from his friend.
"I'm just gettin' started, my friend," Mark called. He needed to somehow prove he wasn't getting old.
****
Grace walked over to Lexie . She sighed. "Bella is working with Sloan. So I'm taking over. How's it going?" She asked.
"I pulled a splinter out of a guys toe. And now I'm writing about it," Lexie said.
"Okay. Well if you have any questions...," Grace said. She knew how Meredith wasn't even giving Lexie a chance. But she felt bad for it.
"I have a lot of questions. Just not about a splinter," Lexie said as she looked to her.
"Okay."
"Okay."
****
Bella smiled as she looked to Lexie. "How's it going with Grace?" She asked.
Lexie sighed. "It's like both her and Meredith hate me. I don't know what I ever did," she said.
"Don't take it personal Lex. Both of them haven't had it easy. And I think you turning up here, opened up wounds for them," Bella told her.
Lexie looked to her. "I didn't ask to come here. I didn't want to come here," she said.
"I find that personally offensive. I'm a great resident," Bella said as she smiled and walked off.
****
Bella was in surgery with Mark and the chief. George was there too. "The graft's a perfect fit," Mark said.
"It's got good vascularization."
Mark smiled. "And at this rate, you may actually get to go on that date with Adele," he said as he shared a glance with Bella.
He knew he was extremely worried about what she had to talk to him about. He hoped she didn't want to end them as he knew that he wanted to make it work.
Webber nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I better. Can't very well have her take me back if I cancel our first date."
"Where you taking her, chief?" Bella asked with a smile as she looked to him.
Webber turned to look at her. "Oh, there's a nice little Chinese restaurant we like to go to," he told her.
"Hmm."
Bella frowned. "What happens next?" She asked. She was interested in this surgery.
"Dr. Sloan, I don't..."
Mark nodded and sighed. "I know."
"Is everything okay?" George asked, looking between the two of them.
"Um...we're not sure."
Bella frowned as she turned to her boyfriend. "What does that mean?" She asked.
"It means we've never done this before."
Webber looked to Mark. "What about if we coapt the lingual nerve underneath here?" He suggested.
Mark sighed and shook his head. "No, we'd end up losing the vascular supply. The graft might not work at all."
"She likes to talk, Sloan. She likes to talk a lot," Webber told the plastics surgeon.
"We need an extra set of hands. Someone who knows nerves."
Webber nodded. He turned to Bella and George. "Get Dr. Shepherd. Male Shepherd."
"Well obviously it won't be me. I'm already in here," Bella said as she turned and left with George to find her brother.
****
Grace walked over to Bella. She sighed. "I think I need to talk to Lexie. About Susan's death," she said. She smiled. "Will you come with me?"
Bella rolled her eyes and nodded. "Fine. Let's go Juliet."
Lexie looked up as the two residents walked over. She sighed. "What?" She asked with a look towards her older sister.
Grace sighed and sat down with them. "I have your mother's death note here. Everything that happened on the day she died is in here, and I know because I wrote it. So, I'd like to go over with you if that's okay?" She said.
"Yeah."
Bella looked to Lexie. "Ok first of all let me just say that everything that happened that day, every set back, there was one percent chance of each of those things happening. One percent and your mother was the one percent," she told her.
Grace took over and spoke. "She came in complaining of persisting hiccups. We did an endoscopy out of obligation," she said.
Lexie looked to her sister. "You did an endoscopy?"
Grace nodded. She smiled. "So it would be out-patient procedure, we wanted to avoid major surgery. For what it's worth I was very fond of your mother. She was...I was very fond of her. She got bacterial endocarditis," she said.
****
Grace and Derek were lying in bed together. He smiled. "Do you ever think about the baby we lost?" He asked.
Grace nodded and sighed. "All the time. I think it would have been a boy. He would be nearly one now. I think he would have your eyes with my hair. And he would have been cheeky," she said.
Derek looked to her. "One day Gracie we're going to have a baby. And I'll be right by your side. Every step of the way. The morning sickness. The lot," he told her.
Grace kissed him. "I love you."
"I love you too Gracie. My always and forever," Derek said.
****
Bella smiled as she walked into Mark's hotel room. She had Chinese with her. "I saw how you looked when chief mentioned Chinese. So I bought you on," she said.
"You're a doll. What did you wanna talk about?" Mark asked as he took the bag from her.
Bella smiled. "You go dish that up. I'm gonna slip into something comfy and then we can talk," she said as she walked into the bathroom.
Mark plated up their food. He sat on the bed and smiled as Bella walked over to him. He looked to her. "Okay I know you're not breaking up with me. You wouldn't be looking so fuckable in my shirt. What's going on doll?" He asked.
Bella sighed. "Okay. Before I tell you, please know that I'm not... I love you. And this won't change anything," she told him.
"You're freaking me out."
"When I left New York, with Derek. I found out that I was pregnant. Your baby. I didn't know about it until I arrived here in Seattle. I told Derek. No one else knows."
Mark frowned. "Pregnant? Did you get an abortion?" He asked.
Bella shook her head. "No. I didn't. I promise. I had every intention of keeping it. And telling you. Derek told me not to. He didn't want me hurting again. It was a couple days before I was due to begin internship. I was bleeding. I went to a doctor. Not here. And they said that I miscarried."
Mark was in shock. Bella had been pregnant with their baby. And he had cheated with Addison. "Is it my fault?" He asked.
"No! Don't think that. It's one of those things that happens. The move here. And the stress of internship. But you are not to blame. I've never blamed for it. I've always known I'll struggle with pregnancy."
Mark pulled her close. He knew he was blaming himself. "We could have had a baby?"
"We could have. This doesn't change anything. I still want you. And I want this to work. I'd understand if you don't want me. Considering I didn't tell you," Bella said.
Mark kissed her lips heatedly. "Course I want you. You're the only one I want."
"Good."
Mark looked to her and smirked. "Do you wanna have a baby?" He asked.
"Well not right now. I'm a kick ass resident. And I'm vibing with it," Bella said.
"Not now you donut. Derek would probably kill me for getting you pregnant."
Bella cuddled into him and smiled. Just hoping that it would work out for her and Mark.