Sometimes She Forgets

Miranda Bailey's eyes fluttered open and she immediately glanced at the clock: 4:15AM. She always seemed to be waking up early these days; never quite being able to sleep to the 6AM alarm she'd set on her phone. More often than not, it happened when her boyfriend was in the bed next to her. And she didn't know what to do about it. Fortunately, her disrupted sleeping pattern didn't affect the way she did her job. As an Attending General Surgeon at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital, she had to be on her A-game at all times. She took pride in her career and in the fact that her job was to heal people and to repair what was broken. She loved it. So much, but the one thing that she loved more than her career was being a great mother to her six-year old son, Tuck, a product of her first marriage and the light of her life. He was currently at his father's house for a few days and while he was only across town, she missed him. Miranda said a silent prayer and looked up. The whirring ceiling fan drew her attention and she found herself counting the spins. She inhaled and exhaled softly, trying not to jostle the bed. She didn't want to wake her sleeping boyfriend. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him. Half of his shirtless body was covered in their gray sheets. He was turned toward her, his hands underneath his head. Even when he was asleep and snoring, he was sexy. Miranda smiled; Ben Warren was a catch. As a doctor himself, an Anesthesiologist at the same hospital she worked at, he understood her work and knew what it was that she wanted to accomplish professionally. And all he ever did was support her. She rolled to her side and stared at him. He didn't rouse. This was their second try at being "Miranda and Ben". The first time had gone perfectly until Miranda experienced tragedy and fear that she'd never wish on anyone. Afterwards, she found that she couldn't concentrate on repairing her own broken self while also being in a relationship. She hopped on a plane, going back to the East Coast, far away from her troubles and away from the man who loved her. When she got back, she still hadn't figured out a way to be with Ben. So, she'd their relationship. And it was something she hated to do, but something she had to do. So this was Round Number Two with them and they'd picked up right where they'd left off, happy and in love. She'd decided to move in with him, one inanimate object at a time and he agreed to pace their relationship, knowing that she could pull away at any moment. She had made the decision a month ago and she wasn't looking back. Miranda tried to close her eyes and get some rest before her phone went off in forty-five minutes. One minute before 6AM, she opened her eyes again and turned off her alarm before it could alert the guy next to her. She kissed his cheek and rolled out of the bed and headed to the bathroom. While showering, she mentally went through her schedule for the day. She had a few procedures and her mentor, Richard Webber, the Chief of Surgery of the hospital, had asked her to cover his surgeries while he spent his day on paperwork; so she had to round and possibly operate on his patients, too. It was going to be a long day.

Miranda and Ben drove to work separately. Miranda used Richard's second parking space near the front and waited for Ben. He walked up to her with his hand out. She took it happily as they made their way into the hospital. She wasn't one for public displays of affection and there was a time when she would have even declined his hand, knowing people would talk and gossip because they had nothing better to do. But now she didn't care. He kissed her cheek when they parted ways. The General surgeon flipped the switch from being a satisfied and involved woman to a focused surgeon with patients to see and procedures to perform. She walked into the room of her first patient, Tom Kates. "Okay, Mr. Kates. You're going to need a transfusion. Your scans showed that the splenic lac is bleeding more than we originally thought," Miranda told the dark-skinned man, muscular and huge, barely fitting into the bed. The man sighed deeply and looked at his wife, Jamie, a thick Black woman with short black hair, who was holding his hand. "Look, um, initially we thought the injury to your spleen would resolve itself, but it's bleeding too much. And I need to remove it as soon as possible."

"Okay, but what about work, Dr. Bailey? I have to work. My family needs me," Mr. Kates said rubbing his face.

"Oh, well, the surgery is gonna have you out for a couple of weeks, but then you'll be good to go," Miranda's resident, Meredith Grey responded. Miranda watched the husband and wife exhale simultaneously and grin.

"Thank you!" Jamie said releasing herself from Tom's grasp and hugging Miranda and Meredith. A smile spread across her face. Their reaction is why being a doctor mattered so much to her. It was her superpower. She smiled and nodded shortly before leaving the room with her residents in tow.

She turned to Meredith. "Prep Mr. Kates for surgery." The resident nodded and walked away.

At the Nurse's Station, Miranda signed a few charts. "Hey, Bailey!" A voice said behind her. Miranda turned around to see her best friend and fellow doctor, Callie Torres, walking in her direction.

"Someone is perky this morning," Miranda said giving the tall Latina a fake scowl that quickly turned into a smile. "Why are you so perky?"

"I am just excited that's all."

"Good surgeries?"

"No," she pouted a little. "I'm just supervising an amputation and putting metal plates in a woman's arm." Miranda nodded. "But that's not why I'm all smiley."

"Okay, I'll bite. So why are you all smiley?" Miranda asked her friend. The woman's grin spread.

"Valentine's Day is this weekend! Yayyy!"

Miranda's eyes widened. "Wh… Valentine's Day?" She made a face. It was Monday. How'd she forget that Valentine's Day was coming up? It was two years ago that she confessed that she'd had a crush on Ben and now they were in a committed relationship and living together. It was kind of like their anniversary. "Valentine's Day?" She repeated.

"Yeah, you know the holiday with the little man in the diaper shooting arrows at people to make them fall in love. And there are hearts and candy and dinner and presents!" Callie clapped her hands nearly dropping her chart from the counter.

"Well, I remember telling you that Valentine's Day isn't really a holiday."

"You and Ben don't have any dinner plans?" Miranda shrugged and both women laughed. "Men." Callie turned around. "Speak of the devil," she said in a low voice. "Bye, Bailey." The Orthopedic surgeon backed away. Miranda had a half a mind to beg her to stay or to follow her wherever she was going.

"Oh! So you don't remember our dinner plans for Friday?" Ben said coming up to the counter. Miranda looked at him. "Your only available Friday of the month."

"Of course I do." Ben smirked. "I just didn't want to make Torres jealous of our special and romantic dinner," she said moving closer to him. Their elbows touched slightly, making her heartbeat speed up.

"Right," Ben said signing his chart and handing it over to someone behind the desk. He smiled at the nurse and looked down at his girlfriend. "I know you're lying, but I'm going to go with it."

"Thank you."

"But I know you know that this is kind of like our anniversary." She made a face and nodded. Ben grinned. "You're going to have a good time." He kissed her cheek and she watched him walk away before she headed in the opposite direction, going down the hall after her friend who'd stopped to talk to a nurse.

"You forgot, didn't you?" Callie asked when Miranda caught up to her.

"Something like that."

"Remember how you were last year? You were all grumpy and love-deprived and sex-denied," Callie said whispering the last part.

Miranda rolled her eyes. She remembered last Valentine's Day vividly. Tuck was at a Halloween party hosted by Tucker's church and she sat at home, alone, eating takeout and discounted candy and watching romantic comedies and dramas. "Yeah, faintly," she said.

"Now you have someone and you're getting some regularly."

"What is your point?" Miranda stopped in her tracks and looked at her best friend.

"My point is that you should get excited about Valentine's Day."

"Why's that?" Miranda wasn't convinced. "Because…

"It's not a real holiday," they said together. Callie chuckled and Miranda shook her head.

"Yes! Exactly! Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Kwanzaa, those are real holidays."

Callie scoffed. "So basically you don't think it's a real holiday."

"Yes, me. I don't."

"Well, Bailey, it's not about you!"

It was Miranda's turn to be confused. How wasn't it about her? Ben made dinner plans for her. He was taking her out. Wooing and romancing her; trying to get in her pants. "What do you mean?"

"It's not about you. Ben is doing the whole dinner thing, but he wants to show his dedication to you. He wants to prove that he's the man for you. Which, of course, he so is." Miranda pursed her lips. "All I'm saying is…it isn't about you." The ortho surgeon waved her hands and shook her head. "I have to go." With that statement, Callie walked into a patient's room, leaving Miranda outside, wondering.