Bella hadn't spent much time with Mark since their fight. She didn't know where they stood. She loved him. She knew that. But she just wasn't sure how to move on.
Bella knew how part of her was scared that she and Mark wouldn't last. And Derek would turn on Mark again. And she didn't want Mark to lose Derek again.
She was hurting. She knew she needed to communicate more with Mark. But things were hard. He had been spending more and more time with Callie and Erica.
Bella walked downstairs into the kitchen. Izzie was there. "Sloan not here?" She asked. "Oh wait. You had a fall out."
Derek looked to Bella. "What happened?"
"Shut up," Grace said as she walked into the room. She knew how Bella didn't want Derek knowing. "They don't have to spend every night together."
Bella said nothing as she made a coffee. She sighed. "My head is pounding," she mumbled as she looked to Meredith. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making an omelet," Meredith told her.
Derek looked over to Grace. "What do you think of the house?" He asked.
Grace shrugged and smiled. "I like it. It's good."
Derek rolled his eyes. He walked over to her. "It's good? I'm building us a house. And all I get is 'it's good'?" He asked. He turned to Bella. "I was with Mark this morning. He seems moody. You seem moody."
Bella sighed and smiled. "It's nothing. I just don't need to spend everyday with him."
Izzie smiled. "Also known as you had a row because you thought you were pregnant. You didn't tell Sloan and he called you out for it. He's got a point. You always go running to Grace. Maybe Sloan is glad he didn't have a baby with you. He wouldn't get a look in," she said. She looked to Bella. "Maybe Sloan deserves better than you."
"You bitch," Grace said as she turned to Bella who looked close to crying. "Bella..."
Tears streamed down her cheeks. "No it's fine. I've got to go," Bella mumbled as she left the room. Not seeing the way Derek was looking at her.
Memories of the miscarriage coming back to her as she thought about the baby she lost. Her and Mark's baby.
Grace turned to Izzie. "What is your problem? Seriously. Are you jealous that Bella is happy and you're just a bitter bitch?" She spat. She turned to Meredith. "She needs to fuck off from this house or I'll kill her."
****
Bella was sitting in the resident lounge. She was avoiding everyone knowing how she wanted to be alone. She felt as though Izzie was right.
Bella looked up as Grace walked in. She saw her best friend crying and sighed. "Bella, don't let her get to you," she said as she sat down with her.
"It's what she said about me having Mark's baby. How it was better that I wasn't pregnant. Made me think of the baby I lost. And I'm not okay," Bella sobbed.
Grace held her as she cried. It was rare that Bella cried. She held everything together all the time. She never showed emotion. She hated seeing her so upset. "Stevens is a bitter bitch. She's unhappy with her own life so she has to crap on everyone else," she said.
"It's true. Mark does deserve better than me. He deserves to be with Addison," Bella mumbled as she wiped away her tears.
Grace frowned. "I thought you had made up after your fight? He came over," she said.
"We did. But it's been weird with us. Addison is better suited to him. She's pretty and perfect. World renowned surgeon. I'm just me," Bella mumbled.
"Stop that now Isabella. You are amazing. You're beautiful and Mark is lucky to have you. Now stop talking all this crap or I'll kick your ass," Grace told her.
"You couldn't."
"Don't test me on that Isabella. I'll kick your ass and you know it," Grace said as she hugged her. "I think you need to find Mark and talk to him."
Bella shook her head. "No. I can't see him not like this. He'll feel guilty. And it wasn't him. It was me," she said.
"Bella."
"It's fine."
****
Bella was stood on the elevator with Erica. She smiled as Erica looked to Callie. "Dr Torres," she said.
Callie smiled as she looked to her. "Dr. Hahn, anyone who can outdrink me and still kick my ass at the dartboard gets to call me Callie," she said. She turned to Bella. "Oh hey. You okay?"
Bella nodded. She smiled. "Yeah I'm fine. Didn't sleep too well last night," she told her.
"Last night was actually fun, wasn't it? And I'm not a group person," Erica said as she smiled to Callie.
Callie nodded. "Me neither."
"I think it's because I generally don't like people."
"Me neither."
Bella raised her eyebrows at the obvious flirting between them. The two of them were all smiles. The door opened. Bella felt her heart drop. It was Mark.
Mark smiled as he looked between Callie and Erica. "Morning, ladies," he said.
Callie and Erica looked to each other and laughed. Erica smirked. "Case in point."
The two of them laughed harder as they got off the elevator. Leaving Mark stood there confused.
"What's so funny?" He called after them. He turned to Bella. "Oh. Hey."
"Hi."
Mark looks to her. "Don't suppose you know what they were laughing at?" He asked.
Bella shrugged and smiled a little. "I think they were flirting with each other. Not too sure though," she said.
Mark nodded. He sighed. "Maybe we should for a drink? Maybe talk?"
Bella shrugged and sighed. "You deserve better than me. You can find better than me," she said as she walked off the elevator.
"I don't want better," Mark told her as the doors shut.
****
Bella walked along the corridor. She frowned as she saw Lexie who was stood at the medical cart.
She frowned. "Hey, what are you looking for?" She asked.
"Epinephrine. I need epinephrine."
"Why?" Bella asked. She frowned when she saw her covered in a rash. "What the hell happened?"
Lexie sighed "I'm an adult child of an alcoholic is what happened to me. I have boundary issues. So when Meredith and Grace made me eggs this morning, I couldn't not eat them. I had to pretend I wasn't allergic to eggs. Now I have a rash covering my entire body," she told her.
Bella smiled as she took the needle from Lexie. "Give me your arm."
Lexie handed her the needle. "I'm codependent, my throat is closing up ... oww, and now my arm hurts. Thanks," she said with a smile.
"You're also a drama queen. You're welcome," Bella said as she took a sip of her coffee
"Can you tell Grace thank you for letting me crash on the couch last night? I would tell her myself. But I think she still doesn't like me," Lexie told her.
"If Grace didn't like you, she wouldn't make breakfast. Trust me. I've known Grace since internship. And if she doesn't like you, she'll make it known," Bella said.
Lexie nodded. "So I should take the breakfast as a she's warming up to me?"
"Go for it girl. Mer and Grace have been through a lot. So it takes a lot for them to let people in," Bella said.
****
Derek caught up with Grace. He looked to her. "So you never really told me what you thought of the house," he said.
Grace turned to him and smiled. I have a house. A house where your sister lives. A sister who also hears us having sex," she told him.
"That's your house. I'm talking about our house."
"Between yesterday and today you had plans drawn up?" Grace asked as she tied her hair up.
Derek smiled and nodded. "I've had the plans for months. Between yesterday and today, I decided to share them with you," he told her.
"Why?"
"So nothing's really changed?" Derek asked. He didn't understand why Grace was so apprehensive about this.
Grace sighed. "I'm happy with where we are in our relationship. We've overcome everything. Addison, losing a baby. Me drowning."
"I'm just trying to take a step forward."
Grace kissed him and smiled. "Okay, well, there are about 100 steps between where we are right now and building our dream house. And they'll be fun steps and sexy steps, and we'll try not to fall down them together," she told him as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Derek nodded and kissed her again. "Okay."
****
Bella and the other residents were standing in the hallway outside of Tuck's room. She looked up as George ran over.
"What happened?" George asked looking between his friends.
Bella wiped away her tears. "He got crushed under a bookshelf," she told him.
"Multiple rib fractures."
"Might've dropped a lung."
Grace nodded. "They're worried there may be damage to the heart," she said.
Webber walked out the room. "Shepherd and Grace, get him to radiology for a head, chest and abdominal CT. O'Malley, tell the lab to move fast. Karev, clear out. We'll keep you posted," he said. He turned to Meredith. "I want you to stay with Dr Bailey. She's pretty worked up. I want to make sure that doesn't get in the way of the baby's care."
****
Bella and Grace were in the CT room. Cristina and Meredith were there too. "Can you imagine how horrible this is for her?" Grace said.
"This is why people should not have kids," Cristina commented as she looked to them.
Bella turned to look at her. "What's the matter with you? That's Bailey's baby in there," she said.
Cristina shook her head. "No, see, no. It's a trauma case. If we are gonna be at all effective in saving that kid's life, it can't be Bailey's baby. He's a blunt trauma case," she said.
Izzie walked in and looked to Cristina. "You and Hahn are exactly alike. The two of you deserve each other."
"Thank you."
Meredith looked to the woman who her own sister didn't even like. "I thought you loved cardio?" She asked.
"Oh, no, no. She's pretending not to anymore. Can't take the pressure, huh, Iz?" Cristina said as she smiled to Izzie.
Izzie nodded and rolled her eyes. "You're right, Cristina. In the contest to see who can be the best robot, you win," she said.
Bella ignored them all as she watched Tuck's CT scans. Wanting him to be okay.
****
Meredith and Bailey were stood outside the OR in scrubs. "Okay, they repaired the hole in the diaphragm, and Dr. Hahn is just about to inspect the mediastinum," she told her.
Bailey nodded. "Okay, is she gonna repair with sutures or prosthetic graft?" She asked as she looked to the resident.
Meredith shook her head. "Don't know."
"Don't know?"
"She didn't say."
Bailey moved past her to enter the OR. Meredith had tried to stop her.
Erica looks up as Bailey walked in. "Dr. Bailey? Are you kidding?" She said in disbelief.
"I need to be with my son."
Webber sighed as he looked to her. "Miranda.."
"I have no intention of getting in the way. Just ... I can't stand out there. I can't. I need to be with my son," she said. She was close to tears just wanting to be with her son.
Erica rolled her eyes. "And what we need, Dr. Bailey, is to not have our patient's mother watching us perform his surgery. Dr. Grey, please escort Dr. Bailey back outside," she told Meredith.
Bailey shook her head. "No. There will be no escorting of Dr. Bailey anywhere, Dr. Grey," she said. She turned to Erica. "You can proceed."
Erica glared to Bailey. "I will not proceed until you leave this OR. Now do you want me to stand here talking to you, or do you want me to try and save your baby's life?" She asked.
Webber looked to Bailey. Not wanting her in the OR as it was upsetting for her. "Miranda!"
Bailey was now crying. "I just want to hold my son's hand. I just want to hold his hand. Please," she said.
Bella smiled. "I'll hold his hand," she said. She turned to Erica. "Dr. Grey can hold this retractor, right?" She asked.
Erica looked to Lexie who was stood next to her. She reluctantly nodded. "Yes."
Bella walked over to Bailey. She smiled. " I'll hold Tuck's hand, Dr. Bailey, if it's ... If it's okay with you. I'll hold his hand," she said as she looked to the other woman.
Bailey nodded. "Okay, go, go," she said as she left the room.
Webber glared through his mask. "Everybody, let's get back to work," he told them all.
****
Derek walked over to Mark. He sighed. "This morning. When we were on the land, why didn't you tell me about Bella?" He asked.
Mark turned to him. "Because we made up. But now she's being distant. I don't know why. I'm worried about her though," he said.
Derek nodded. "My sister is complicated. We both know that. And Grace is pushing me away. I want to build us a house for us to raise kids in. She seems worried about."
"We picked a right pair."
"Amen."
****
Bella was still in surgery with Tuck. She hadn't let his hand go once.
Webber looked around. "Okay, the stomach's repaired. There's no splenic laceration," he told them.
Erica nodded and spoke. "Now all I have to do is get the chest tube in, and we're done."
Bella smiled as she stroked Tuck's hand. "That's good, little man. That means you're in better shape than we thought. You're almost outta here," she whispered.
Erica looked to Bella. "Dr. Yang, would you like to do the honors?" She asked.
Lexie smiled. "I can trade places with you if you'd like."
Bella shook her head. Uh, no. I'm okay. I'm okay here," she told them all as she continued to stroke Tuck's hand.
****
Mark was stood in the hallway. He was watching Bella. Erica walked by. She was clearly ready to leave. She soon stopped and turned back to Mark.
"Here's the thing ... You're too pretty," she said.
Mark rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on."
"No, so pretty, in fact, that if we didn't work together, we would probably be ... But the point is we do work together. And ... in order for me to do my job, I need to leave who I am outside the doors of this hospital. So... plus you're in a relationship with pretty girl over there," she said as she pointed to Bella who was filling in charts.
Callie walked out of the elevator. She was also ready to go. "Oh hey," she said as she looked to Mark. She turned to Erica. "You ready?"
Erica nodded and smiled. "I am."
Mark smirked. "Where you guys going? You going to Joe's? I'll come meet you," he said. He was missing the way Bella was looking at him.
Erica turned to Mark over her shoulder. "Good night, Dr. Sloan."
Bella smiled over to Mark. "You like her?" She asked as she looked to him.
Mark shook his head. "I can't like her. Because I'm in love with this blonde who drives me completely crazy," he said.
Bella sighed and smiled. "Goodnight Mark. I'll see you tomorrow," she said as she walked off.
Mark watched as she left. He was going to get his girl back.
****
Bella was sitting on her bed and sighed. She heard the doorbell ringing and groaned. "Isn't anyone getting that?" She mumbled.
Not getting a response, she grabbed her dressing gown and walked downstairs. She frowned as she saw Mark standing there with a bunch of roses. "What are you doing?" She asked.
Mark smiled. "I was an idiot. For saying you're not committed. I think I was scared of me messing up. I flirt. A lot. And I don't always think before I speak. You tame me. You make me want to stand on the roof of the hospital and tell everyone that I'm in love with Bella Shepherd. I can't build you a house. I'd probably mess it up. But what I can do is love you endlessly."
Bella looked to him. "I think that's the most romantic thing I've ever heard in my life," she said.
Mark walked over to her. He put the flowers down on the table. He grabbed her waist and kissed her. "You're the only woman I want. And I promise I'm going to make you happy," he told her.
Bella kissed his lips gently. She smiled. "I love you too."
The two of them kissed heatedly. Just hoping that it was going to work out for them.