Bella was stood in the living room in the house. She was there for Derek's party. But she was bored as anything. She looked to Grace. "I'd rather be anywhere but here," she said as she looked to Mark who was smirking over at her.
Grace nodded. "I'm bored as hell too. Are you okay?" She asked as she looked to her and handed her a drink.
"It's your husband's party. And you're bored? says a lot. Our parties were and are a whole lot better. Just saying," Bella said. She smiled. "I'm good. Don't worry. I'm happy."
Mark smiled and looked to her. "I know it's not been. But I do think he loves you," she said.
Bella just nodded. "I doubt it. I'm not dealing with this boredom. Anyone needs me, I'll be in my room. Drinking vodka and slipping into my bed," she said as she walked over to the table and picked up a bottle of vodka.
She turned and bumped into Reed. "Watch where you're going tinkerbelle," she said as she walked off.
Grace stood there and sighed. She knew all about how Bella and Mark were taking things slowly. And she wanted them to work out. Knowing how Bella deserved happiness.
****
Mark and Owen were with Derek. Derek was showing them the plans for the house he wanted to build for him and Meredith. "This whole wall will be windows. So we can take advantage of the view," Derek told them.
Owen looked to him. "Nice. Have you broken ground yet?" He asked.
"The day I was named chief," Derek said. He looked to Mark. "You're quiet."
Before Mark could say anything, Grace walked in. "You know at my parties, we drink beer. And we dance on tables. Bella usually ends up stripping at some point," she said. She shrugged. "It's that boring Bella has gone to bed."
Derek turned to look at his wife. "Are you insulting my party?" He asked.
"It's getting kind of lame out there," Grace told him.
"Duty calls."
Mark left the room and sighed. He knew Bella. And he knew how she loved a party. So for her to be in bed meant the party was boring.
****
Mark was stood by Callie. He saw how Grace was looking at him. He knew that she was loyal to Bella. And he didn't blame her.
Mark looked to Callie. He saw how she was looking at Arizona. "You're staring again," he said.
"I am not."
"You think I could go and find Bella?" Mark said as he looked to her. He knew he needed to be with her. She was his kryptonite.
Callie shook her head. "Look, I'm not in the mood for you and your life right now," she told him as she walked off.
****
Grace, Jackson and Reed were stood watching Mark. Reed turned to them. "I'm going in," she told them.
Grace frowned. "No. I don't think so. He's in love with my best friend. And this is the my house," she said.
"No. Go ahead girl. Get yours," Jackson said, ignoring the glare he got from Grace.
Reed stood and walked over to Mark. Grace turned to Jackson. "What the fuck? Why would you encourage that?" She asked.
"Because. It's entertaining. He won't go with her."
"This is Sloan. He will dip his cock anywhere wet. I can't believe you would do this," Grace said as she stood and walked off from him.
Reed walked over to Mark and smiled. "Dr Sloan. I just wanted to say that your work with Dr Shepherd on that acoustic neuroma was amazing. I was... inspired," she said.
Mark looked to Reid. He shook his head. "Do one. I'm not interested in you. Or anyone else. You're not my Bella," he said.
Grace heard him and smiled. She knew he was serious about Bella. And she was pretty sure that it was only too soon before they were back together completely.
****
The next morning, Bella walked into the hospital. She looked to Grace. "You appeared to be having loud sex. Is everything okay?" She asked.
"Don't ask. But it was hot. I don't know why. But my sex drive has been racing lately," Grace said as she looked to her.
Bella groaned. "Now I honestly do want an orgasm. It's been way too long."
Grace grinned. "Reed hit on Mark when you went to bed. He rejected her saying she wasn't his Bella. He's serious about you."
"He rejected her?"
Grace nodded. "Yeah. I was there. He told her to do one. He said he wasn't interested in anyone but you," she told her.
Bella smiled. She looked over to Mark who was yawning. "Why does he look tired?" She asked
"Probably had a hard time with his hand. Doesn't have you on the over end of him," Grace said.
Bella blinked a couple of times. She shook her head. "You're really getting too much sex," she said as she walked off.
****
Bella was stood in the ER with Callie and Reed. She couldn't even look at Reed.
Their patient, Betty, was on the phone with her son. "Yes, Andrew, I said "surgery." Now, wait, wait. Would you explain to my son why he doesn't need to worry?" She asked as she handed the phone to Callie.
Callie took the phone and sighed. "Hello? Hi. Um ... Your mom has some broken bones in her forearm, But, uh, we're gonna put some small metal plates in, and then she'll be discharged tomorrow. Okay, bye."
Betty smiled. "See, dear? So don't jump on a plane. No, I'm gonna call you right after surgery. Well, love you, too, darling. Bye-bye. Oh, my son, the lawyer. He's single, very nice, a little bit older," she told them.
Bella smiled and shrugged. "I am sort of in a relationship with someone. We've had ups and downs. What about you, Reed? You go for older guys, right?" She asked as she turned to the other woman.
Reed said nothing as she walked off. Bella stood there with a grin on her face. Callie discreetly winked at her.
"Is it something I said?" Betty asked as she looked between the two doctors.
Callie shook her head and smiled. "Oh no no. It's not you," she told her.
Callie looked to Bella. "She hit on Mark. Which is weird. He looked at her like he looks at the interns."
****
Derek and Mark were in the elevator. They both loomed up as Bailey walked in. She was humming a song. "Hello," Bailey said.
Mark looked to her. "What song is that? I know that song," he said.
Bailey smiled. "Oh just a little something stuck in my head. You know how it is," she told them.
"Oh."
"You both have a good day," Bailey said as she got off of the elevator.
Mark turned to Derek. "Bailey in a good mood..."
Derek nodded. "She is, really good. Teddy was right for you. Appropriate," he said.
The elevator door opened and Ben Warren got in. "Morning gentleman," he said. He started humming the same song that Bailey was.
He soon got off on the next floor. Mark nodded. "Go Bailey."
"Indeed."
Derek looked to Mark. "I heard Reed hit on you."
"I rejected her. I'm not gonna hurt my Bella again," Mark said.
****
Bella was now working with Mark, Jackson and Bailey. They walked into a room.
Mark smiled. "Good morning, amber and Trish. Um, Trish and amber met in the burn unit. Best friends ever since. Dr. Shepherd?" He said as he turned to Bella.
Bella smiled and spoke. "Amber collier, 28, Presents status post-M.V.C. Amber was in a car when it flipped and she was pinned under it while it burned."
Trish, one of the others in the room spoke. "Driving while texting. We strongly recommend it," she said.
Mark turned to look at Jackson. "Dr. Avery, Will you please explain How we're gonna use a tissue expander?"
Jackson spoke. "We stretch healthy tissue injecting saline into a balloon Placed under the skull. And today we'll remove that burned area and cover it with new tissue," he said.
Amber turned to Mark and smiled. "You promise that afterwards, It won't look like a comb-over, right?" She asked.
Mark nodded and smiled. "I will do my best."
Bella sighed and looked to her. "Dr Sloan is one of the best plastic surgeons. He always tries to deliver," she said. "Dr. Sloan, Dr. Bailey. Amber, how long havey best. Your fingers looked like this?"
Amber frowned. She looked to them. "I don't know. They always look pretty bad. You can still do my surgery, right?" She asked.
Bailey sighed and smiled. "We'll know more after we get me films on the fingers."
Trish turned to Amber. "Y- you're bummed out about getting a couple of X-rays? You got a twin sister growing out of your head. That's what you should be bummed about," she said.
****
Bella was waiting for the results of the films. Lexie walked over to Alex. "Are we a couple?" She asked.
"What?"
Lexie sighed. "I need to know what we are. Because people ask. And I don't know what to say. I'm over my crush on Mark. I don't know if you're over Izzie. But I am over my Mark Sloan crush. And I know that we said that, you know, this wasn't gonna be a thing. But I like you. Look, the point is, I want to know what we are," she said.
"We're a thing. Yeah. We're together. We're... we're a thing. Whatever," Alex said as he walked off.
Bella looked to Lexie. "Over your crush on Mark are we? Didn't know you still had one," she said.
"Bella... it was... it was a stupid crush," Lexie told her.
Bella rolled her eyes. "I'm winding you up. I don't care about you or him anymore. I have bigger issues to deal with," she told her.
Lexie looked to her. "Reed hit on Mark? Gross?" She said.
Bella shrugged. She smiled. "At least she turn up at his hotel and strip," she said as she walked off.
****
Bella was back in Amber's room. Mark was standing by her side. Amber looked to them. "You have to cut off three of my fingers?" She asked.
Mark nodded. "They're infected Amber. It also means that we have to postpone your hair restoration," he told her.
Trish looked to Amber and smiled. "Amber. You survived a horrible car wreck. You'll survive this too," she said.
"I know. But-."
"Hey. What do we always say? We're both alive. That's what matters. Everything else is just bumps and bruises," Trish said.
Bella smiled as she looked to Amber. "You can cry, Amber. It's fine. It's a lot to take in all at once," she told her.
Trish shook her head. "No. She needs to stay positive. That's how we get through. We stay positive," she said.
Bella sighed. "She was excited. She was hopeful. She was eager. And that has been crushed. She has the right to have some feelings. She can be positive tomorrow. You can be positive tomorrow."
"Thank you."
****
Grace moaned as her back was slammed against the door. She grinned as she looked to Derek. She bit her lip. "Bella heard us having sex last night. She says I'm getting too much of it," she said.
Derek smirked and kissed her neck. "She's jealous. She's lonely. Seeing her best friend happy is making her thinking about Mark."
"But-."
"Gracie shut up before I gag you," Derek told her as he kissed her lips to keep her quiet.
****
Bella was in surgery with Mark, Ben and Bailey. Bailey looked to Mark. "Looks like that's just about it. You want to have the anaesthesiologist start lightening her up?" She asked.
Ben smirked. "You could ask me directly."
"Dr Sloan? You want to start lightening her up?" Bailey asked again.
Mark shook his head. "No. Wait. I want to do the hair restoration," he told them.
Bella frowned as she turned to him. "What about the chance of infection?" She asked.
"Infection looked pretty isolated," Jackson said. He could feel the tension between Bella and Mark.
Bailey looked to Mark. "Do you think we can do it?"
"Seems to me that we are all in need of a little magic today. Right Dr Bailey?" Mark said as he held his gaze with Bella.
"Let's do it."
****
Mark walked over to Teddy and sighed. "Look, Teddy. I Wanted to say that-."
Teddy shook her head. She turned to him. "Look, I should've known. You're always going to choose Bella. It's-it's that simple. And it's that over," she told him as she walked off.
Callie walked over to Mark and sighed. "Talk to her," she said as she stood by him.
"I just did. She doesn't want to."
Callie shook her head and smiled. "No, I'm not talking about Teddy. I'm talking about Bella. You still love her. And flirting isn't gonna fix that. And the reasons that you broke up- Little Sloan and the baby- they're not reasons anymore," she said.
Mark sighed. "Do you really think she'll wanna be serious again? I hurt her."
"Yeah, well, Betty married Mike, But she never got over Henry," Callie told him.
"What?"
"Look, you don't want 50 years to go by and then realize that you let the love of your life get away. So go. Try," Callie said.
She knew she was apprehensive about Mark and Bella at first. But she had seen how happy they made each other.
"You gonna try again with Robbins?" Mark asked. Knowing he wanted his best friend to be happy too.
"No."
"Why not? You're pressuring me into talking to Bella. Even though she wants to kill me," Mark said.
"Because my reasons are still reasons," Callie said as Mark hugged her.
****
Bella was standing at the nurses station. She felt a presence behind her. She turned to see Mark. "Bella. I'm still in love with you. I tried not to be. But it didn't work. And Sloan's gone. There's no baby. And I don't want to sleep around. I want another chance. I'm in love with you," he said.
"Mark. You hurt me though. And you've been flirting and kissing nurses. I want a boyfriend who doesn't want to look at every other woman," Bella said.
"You don't have to have a boyfriend. I'm saying you could have a husband who loves you more than anything," Mark told her.
Bella frowned. She looked to him. "What are you saying?" She asked.
Mark got down on one knee. He took out the ring he had gotten her before. "Isabella Shepherd. I've been a complete idiot. I hurt you and that's my biggest mistake. I promise you right now, I'll never hurt you again. Will you marry me?"
Bella looked to him. She nodded. "Y-Yeah," she said as she felt him putting the ring on. "Get up. Everyone is looking at you," she said. She saw how everyone in the hospital was looking at them both.
Mark got up and kissed her deeply. She wrapped her arms around him. "Wasn't as nice as my first proposal."
"This was better," Bella said as she kissed him again. She looked to him. "Have you been walking around with the ring all this time?"
"That would be tragic."
"I agree."
"Next week. We're going to city hall. And we're going to get married. I know we said we would wait until we have a baby. But I wanna make you my wife," Mark said.
Bella nodded and smiled. Not knowing how it wasn't going to happen as a shocking event changed it all.