Bella knew how things had been lately. She and Mark were hardly talking. She had been missing him so much though. And she wanted to have him back.
Bella didn't know how she could make it work with him. Not with how much tension there had been with them both. And part of her was scared their relationship was over for good.
She knew how she hadn't told her mom about anything that had happened. She didn't want Mark to be called by her and shouted at. Which she knew would happen.
Bella knew completely he hadn't done anything. Yes he had come close to kissing Addison. But he didn't. And for that, she was thankful. Knowing how things would be harder for her if he had kissed her.
The door opened and Grace walked in. She smiled. "Hey Isabella. You okay?" She asked.
Bella nodded and smiled. "I'm good. Think I'm going to colour my hair. Wanna help?"
"Yes. I'm in need of someone to sabotage. But you'll look hot," Grace said as she pulled Bella into the bathroom. She smiled. "You're doing this for you? And not for Mark?"
"Yes. I'm doing this for me Gracie. You don't need to worry," Bella told her as she smiled. "I love Mark. And I want to be with him. But I won't wait or beg for him back."
Grace smiled. It was so obvious to her that Bella was missing Mark. And she knew she was changing her hair to distract her from the whole situation. It was something she would do if she was in the same position.
"You sure you're wanting to do this? I'll do it for you. But just are you sure?" Grace asked.
Bella nodded and smiled. "I'm sure. I fancied a change. So let's get down to it," she said as she handed her the box.
****
Mark walked over to Callie. "Hey, Torres. Do you know anything about putting together cribs?" He asked.
Callie frowned. "You bought a crib?"
Mark shrugged and smiled. "Well, Sloan's coming home tonight, and I got it put together, but it wobbles. And it can't wobble. Now will you take a look at it?" He asked as he looked to her.
Callie laughed. "You're like a sweet, nerdy dad now. I don't even recognize you," she said.
"Well," Mark said. It was then that he saw a brunette at the nurses station. "Who's the brunette?"
Callie shrugged. "I don't know."
Mark nodded. "I may be a dad, but I am a single dad. Excuse me," he said as he walked over to her.
"Okay. Now... now I recognize you."
Mark approached the blonde girl. "It must, uh, suck to work on Valentine's day. I don't believe we've met," he said.
Bella frowned as she turned to look at Mark. "Aah! What'd you do to your hair?!" He asked.
Grace rolled her eyes. "I changed it. I ... I colored it. I just ... Wait. You thought I was someone else. You didn't know it was me and you were hitting on me?"
Mark shook his head. "No, no. I pretty much thought you were, you know, just some brunette," he said.
Bella rolled her eyes. "Some brunette? Wow. Low. Even for you."
"You're not brunette. My Bella is blonde," Mark said as he tucked a strand of hair behind her hair. "My blonde Bella is beautiful."
Bella looked to him. "I'm not your Bella though am I? Not anymore," she mumbled as she walked off.
"You'll always be my Bella," Mark said as he watched her walking away.
****
Bella looked to see Sloan as she was stood there. "Sloan? When did you get in? Does Mark know you're here?" She asked.
Sloan turned to Bella. She smiled. "Um, no. My flight got in a little bit early, and I just took a cab over. I didn't to bug him or anything. Somebody said that you guys have a free clinic? Do you know where that is?"
"Is everything okay?" Bella asked. Confused as to why Sloan hadn't told her own father she was back.
Sloan nodded. "Oh, yeah. I just want someone to check me out ... after the surgery and everything. Maybe give me an ultrasound or something?"
Bella smiled. She nodded and looked to him. "Yeah, the clinic closed an hour ago. Come on. I have a second. I'll take a peek for you," she told the young girl.
****
Grace smiled as she walked into Derek's office. She looked to him. "Well. You and I need to talk."
"Oh?"
Grace nodded. "Valentine's Day sex. I think I may actually need to get some. And soon," she told him.
Derek smirked and winked. "Well... if you're up for it, I know a place we can go. There's a bed. And you would be on your back," he said.
Grace grinned. "Yeah? Sounds good."
Derek kissed her lips and smiled. "I've seen Bella. She changed her hair?" He asked.
"Yeah. I helped her. I think she looks good."
Derek sighed. "She's not herself. She's doing this because of Mark. She misses him. So she's distracting herself from the whole situation," he said.
Grace smiled. "Bella is tough. You and I both know that. She's gonna be okay," she told him. She kissed him again. "Tonight?"
"I'll be the one there with a cushion," Derek said as he turned and walked off.
****
Bella smiled as she looked to Sloan's sonogram. "Aww. Baby looks perfect," she said.
Sloan nodded. "Awesome. Um, can I, like, get that in writing?"
"Oh, even better. Here is a souvenir," Bella told her as she handed her a sonogram picture.
"Oh, um ... well, don't you have some kind of, like, official form or hospital document that you can give me?" Sloan asked as she looked to Bella.
"Why do you need an official form?" Bella questioned. She knew this wasn't going to end well.
Sloan shrugged and looking to her. "Oh, well, that's none of your business."
"If you want your official form, it is, Sloan. What's going on?" Bella asked again.
Sloan sighed and nodded. "It's for the adoption attorney, okay? They need, like, a clean bill of health from me or something. There's this great couple in San Francisco, and they have these two big dogs, and..."
"An adoption attorney?"
Sloan nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I'm not ready to be a mom. I'm just ... I'm just not ready yet," she told her.
Bella was in absolute shock. "Have you told Mark?"
"No. And ... you're my doctor, right? I mean, don't you guys have some kind of rule that says you can't say anything? Well, I'm not gonna tell him, and neither are you."
Bella knew that despite how things were, she hated keeping secrets from Mark.
Especially when she knew he was excited for Sloan to have the baby.
****
Bella walked over to Grace. She smiled as she saw her sister. "How are you? You look like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders," Grace said.
"It's a long story. I just... I don't know what to do. I need to talk to Mark. I need to find him," Bella mumbled.
"Bella. What's going on?" Grace asked as she looked to her.
Bella sighed. "It's Sloan. She wants to give the baby up for adoption. She doesn't want to tell Mark either. I can't keep this from him," she mumbled.
"Oh my god."
****
Bella was chasing after Sloan. "You can't leave without telling him."
"Yes, I can. I can do whatever I..."
The two of them ran into Mark. He looked to her. "Sloan."
"Crap."
Mark smiled to his daughter. He was happy to see her. "When did you get here? I mean, I thought you were gonna call first," he said.
Look," Sloan said as she handed Mark the ultrasound picture.
Mark took it. He smiled widely. "Oh, my God. Would you look at that? That's the Sloan nose. Can you ... can you see it? Can you see it? It's my dad's. He has my dad's nose. That's the Sloan nose," he said.
Bella saw the look on his face. She felt bad for how Sloan was acting.
Mark's pager was went off. "Damn it. Will you wait for me? I want to ... I want to take you home. I got a surprise for you. Oh, could I see this again? The Sloan nose," he said as she walked off.
****
Derek walked over to Bella. He smiled. "You look like dad with your hair like that. He would be proud of you," he said.
Bella turned to him. "You think? Because I don't think he would be."
Derek smiled. "You were his little angel. He loved showing you off in the store. Made Amelia a little jealous at times. But if he saw the doctor you were becoming, he would be so proud of you," he told her.
Bella sighed. She wiped away a tear that had fallen. "I miss him. And it's weird. I never even knew him properly. But he's the person I miss most of all. Sometimes I just wish he was here so he could comfort me and make me feel safe," she said.
Derek held her close. "I'm the same sometimes. I wanna go to him. And ask for his advice. About Gracie. And how to be the husband she deserves," he told her.
"You're the exact type of husband she needs. You need her too. Addie broke you. But Grace fixed you. And you need her more than she needs you. But you won't admit that," Bella told him.
****
Sloan looked up as Bella walked over. She sighed. "Do you have my report thing?" She asked.
Bella shook her head. "No. He took you in, he's given you money, he flew you to L.A. He deserves to know. So if you're not gonna tell him, I will."
Mark walked over. "You paged me? What's going on?" He asked looking between Bella and his daughter.
Sloan frowned. "You paged him?"
"What's the matter?" Mark asked.
Bella sighed. She turned to look at Mark. "She's...
"I'm giving the baby up for adoption. I'm not a mom. I'm not ready. And I want him to have good parents and a good home," Sloan told her dad.
Mark shook his head. "No, don't. Don't do this. Don't give this baby away."
"They'll love him. They'll love him more than I will."
"Give him to me. I'll take him. I'll adopt him. I understand. I understand. You're not ready, but I am. And I know I ... I don't have the best track record, and I ... and I should've been there for you, and I wasn't. But I will be there for this baby. Please," Mark said as he looked to Sloan.
Bella was stood there in shock. She wasn't expecting that.
"I want him to have a family. And, I mean, you've been really nice to me the past couple of months, but you're not a family. You're just a guy," Sloan said.
"Sloan, please."
Bella shook her head. She was unable to believe what was happening.
****
Grace ran to find Bella who was pacing in the tunnels. "Bella. What happened?" She asked.
"Mark. He knows Sloan wants to give the baby up for adoption. He asked her to give the baby to him to raise. He wants to adopt the baby," Bella said.
Grace was shocked. She looked to her. "He told you that?" She asked.
Bella shook her head. She sighed. "He found out as she was leaving. I feel so bad for him. He doesn't deserve this," she mumbled.
****
Lexie looked to Mark as she walked into the room with Jackson. "We saved the arm. We saved it. We're ready."
"It's gonna have to be an amputation."
"What?" Jackson asked as he looked to her.
"There's too much devascularized tissue, too much contamination. Or we can push antibiotics and let the stump heal, but by that time..." Owen began.
Mark looked to them both. "The arm will be dead. Page me when he's awake. I'll tell him," he said as he went to walk off.
" They can't just leave it behind. We could move it somewhere else, attach it to a healthy zone," Lexie said as she looked to the two attendings'
Jackson shrugged and smiled. "Don't tell me, mouse."
"I'm ... I'm just saying ... Temporary ectopic replantation! Well, you have ... you have to keep the arm alive until the stump heals," Lexie said as she looked up.
"Yes, but in cases involving the elbow ... It's extreme. He'll lose range of motion, grip failure," Mark said.
"He'll keep his arm. He deserves extreme measures. If the arm is still viable, you can't just let it die," Lexie said.
"Has that ever been done before, above the elbow?" Owen asked as he looked to Mark.
Mark shrugged. "I don't know, but it could be done. You could implant onto the epigastric and the, uh, vena commitante. Give you a few days for the stump to heal. I've never done one," he said.
"Neither have I."
"So? After today, you can't say that anymore. Okay, come on. I told him that we would do everything we could. Do everything that we can," Lexie said.
Mark sighed and nodded. "I'll call Shepherd and let him know."
"Grey, Avery, get ready to scrub in. We're gonna be a while," Owen said as he and Mark got ready.
****
Callie and Bella walked into the apartment block. The two of them saw Sloan "Oh, come on. Did you even tell him you're leaving?" She asked.
Sloan sighed. "Look, I ... I just wanted a place to stay and some money. I mean, I didn't know he was gonna care this much. He bought a crib."
Bella turned to Callie. "I'm gonna go on the toilet. Can you deal with her?" She asked.
Callie nodded. She turned to Sloan. "Well, he's a good man, and he'll be very good to your baby," she said. Sloan went to walk off. "You ... you could know the baby if Mark raised him. You could come back and visit and ..."
"I ... I don't want to know where to come back to. I mean, if I give him to you guys, it's still my baby, and I need him to be somebody else's. I mean, my dad got a clean break from me ... And look at him now. Don't I deserve that?" Sloan said as she looked to her.
Callie sighed. She looked to her. "Prenatal vitamins are not a joke. Take them," she said as she She took all the cash from her wallet. She gave it to Sloan. "And do not skip any doctor's appointments. And ... if you ... get into any trouble or you have a problem with anything ... Call us. Just ... take care of yourself."
"Thanks."
Bella came back out the apartment. She saw Callie. "Where is she?" She asked.
"I gave her money. She's gone," Callie said as she looked to her.
Bella eyes widened. "Why... why would you do that? Did you think about Mark? You claim to be his best friend. But you just gave his daughter money to walk away. What is that all about?" She said.
Callie shrugged and sighed. "I did this for Mark."
"You didn't do this for Mark. Let's be real," Bella said as she walked back into Mark's apartment.
****
Mark walked into apartment. He saw Bella there. With the crib he had built for Sloan's baby. "Oh. I don't believe you. You don't have to do that," he said as he looked to her.
Ellie sighed. "I wanted to, before you got home," she told him.
Mark smiled. He kissed her cheek. "And you don't have to do what you offered to do. I'm not gonna hold you to that," he said.
"Mark..."
Mark smiled again. He knew Bella wasn't sure about this. But he was thankful he had her. "But thank you so much for offering. And, uh ... it could be kinda great, right? We could raise the baby together."
Bella proceeded with what she was doing. She wasn't putting the crib together. She was taking it apart again. His eyes tear up. "What are you doing?" He asked.
"Sit down."
Bella took the crib apart. She saw how Mark had tears in his eyes. "Callie, she gave Sloan money. And she left. I'm so sorry," she said.
"Figured she would. I'm just a guy remember," Mark said. He looked to Bella. "You don't have to be here."
Bella shook her head. "I'd rather be here with you. It's going to be okay. And you're more than just a guy. You are someone who is amazing. You were a fantastic father to Sloan. Callie just... I don't know. But it's gonna be okay. I'm here for you. And that won't change."
Mark looked to Bella and saw how she was looking at him. He wanted nothing more than to be with her. But he didn't know where they were in their relationship.