Suddenly

Miranda slowly opened her eyes. The light to her bathroom was on. She remembered it being on last night, but she thought she'd turned it off after going to the bathroom early in the morning. She rubbed the corners and said a silent prayer, thanking God for allowing her to see another day. Then, she turned away from the bathroom door, taking a quick look at her clock that read 6:30 AM and faced Ben was who lying next to her. He was on his back and his arm was hanging off of the side of the bed. His bare chest moved slightly as he slept and his snoring made her smile. She watched him for a while, reveling in the thoughts of what had happened. It had been wonderful. She blushed and smiled every time she remembered the events that had lead up to them making love last night. Everything had been perfect.

"Are you… staring at me?" Ben asked. He slowly opened one eye and looked at her. She nodded. "You know, a 'good morning' would suffice." Ben reached up and touched her cheek. And put a hand behind her head and gently pulled her to him. He kissed her quickly on the lips and planted another kiss on her cheek. "Good morning, Miranda."

"Good morning, Ben," she said propping her head up with her hand. "How'd you sleep?"

"You felt good. This bed feels good. Everything felt—"

"Good," Miranda said cutting him off. A grin crept across her face, making Ben smile.

He nodded. "How did you sleep?" He scratched his head.

"Well, it's my bed, so I slept great like I always do."

"Oh, nothing was different?" He raised an eyebrow and licked his lips.

She moved closer to him. "Last night… it was great."

He exhaled. "Great. That's good. I was a little worried."

"Don't be. I was very comfortable."

"You're not mad at me?" He asked pushing some hair that had fallen into her eyes.

"For what?"

"For coming over here to make love to you."

Miranda's heart skipped a beat. "N-no. No, no. I'm not mad. Why would I be mad? I'm glad you came over."

"Good," he said leaning in to kiss her. "Because I plan on doing it again." He kissed her softly on the lips making her shudder a little. "And again." She put her hand to his cheek as he kissed her a third time. "And again."

"And I plan on enjoying each time."

"Well, now that that's settled. Do you want me to make breakfast?" He asked.

"Sure," Miranda answered dragging out the word.

"Or I can go. Whichever you prefer."

"I'd prefer, actually, to make us breakfast."

Ben's face lit up. "Wow. I like that. Sex and breakfast."

Miranda opened her mouth to respond, but she opted against it. Instead she got out of the bed, pulling down the bottom of the black t-shirt that Ben had been wearing. After they'd fallen back on the bed for the last time of the night, he'd reached down and gave her his shirt to put on. The gesture surprised her and shocked her a little. Then, she'd sat up and put it on while Ben watched. It fell just at the top of her butt. When she was finished putting it on, she lay back down and put her head on his chest. It was in the comfort of his arms that she'd gone to sleep. "Yeah, but don't say it like that. You've cooked or bought food every time we've been together. I just want to do this for you."

"Yes, of course," he said sheepishly.

Miranda walked into her bathroom and quickly brushed her teeth. She walked back into her bedroom and saw Ben sliding into his grey sweatpants and he reached for his shoes. Her face fell. "You're leaving?" She asked.

"No," he said walking towards her and taking her hand. "I just didn't want to eat breakfast in boxers or naked… unless that's what you want."

She laughed as she put on a pair of shorts. "Whatever makes you comfortable."

"Well, maybe when we've been together longer we can have naked breakfast." Miranda playfully pushed him and then went downstairs, leaving him upstairs.

Ben was a good cook. And Miranda hoped that her breakfast was good enough. She pulled out two pans and started to make bacon and Italian sausage. She also made a pot of grits and put a couple of biscuits in the oven. Miranda pulled a couple of eggs out of the refrigerator as Ben strolled into the kitchen. "How do you like your eggs, Dr. Warren?"

"Fried. Please," Ben said walking up behind her and kissing her ear. His breath was minty. "I used some of your toothpaste and mouthwash. I hope you don't mind." He held onto her waist, pushing the t-shirt up a little. Miranda closed her eyes and tried to take in his scent. She turned around and kissed him passionately. "I knew you wouldn't."

Miranda finished cooking and brought the food to the table. "So, I hope you're hungry because for some reason I made a birthday breakfast minus the gravy." Miranda chuckled at her own joke.

"This looks so good. Mmm. And this kitchen smells so good, Miranda."

"I hope you enjoy it," she said as they sat down and they ate. Ben commented on how good the food was. This made her smile inside and out. She was also smiling because sitting across from her at her kitchen was a shirtless man and a fine man at that. "So… um, what time do you go in?"

"What time is it now?"

"It's about ten minutes to eight," she said looking at the clock on the microwave.

"I go in at 11," he said rubbing his eyes and then his entire face. Miranda watched his muscles flex.

"I'm going in at 10," Miranda said taking a drink from her glass. They looked at each other.

"Well, you need time to get ready, so I will just leave you." Ben stood up and walked out of the kitchen. Miranda followed him. He grabbed his keys off of the table in the living room. "So, I'll see you later?"

"You don't want your t-shirt back?" She asked confused. Was he just going to drive home without a shirt?

He shook his head. "Hold on to it for me." Ben stepped to her and put her arms around his neck and slid his arms around her waist. "I had a great time last night, Miranda. I always have a great time with you."

Miranda cleared her throat. "Yeah, me too. I—we do have good chemistry." She kissed him softly. "So, I'll see you at the hospital?"

"Of course. You want to grab lunch or something?"

"I usually eat with Callie."

"We can't all eat together?" Miranda looked up and tried not to make eye contact. "OK, I get it. You wanna gossip with your girlfriends."

"Yeah, I do," she said nodding. "But we'll catch up."

"Alright," Ben said. He hugged her. "That's fine if you don't want to have lunch with me… your boyfriend."

Woah, she thought. Boyfriend. He was her boyfriend. And she'd told him that she loved him. And she'd said it because she meant it. She didn't just say those things. She did love him. The thought of it pierced her heart. In a good way, of course. "How do you know?"

Ben inhaled and kissed her cheek. She blushed. "I know that you love me because you opened your heart, you let me in and you gave yourself to me. I know you don't do that for any and everybody." Miranda bit her bottom lip. She'd let her guard down and Ben had come waltzing in and she'd been scared at first, but now being with Ben felt like home, she was comfortable, he made her feel special. And it was corny, but when he looked at her, she made him feel like the luckiest woman ever. "Am I close?" She nodded. "Good, so you'll have lunch with your girls and then, you, LT and I will have dinner together." He kissed the top of her head.

Miranda smiled. "That sounds good… boyfriend."

"Well, girlfriend—I'll see you later." Miranda blushed as Ben kissed her softly on the lips. She put her hands on his chest, feeling his muscles. His tongue begged for entrance and she allowed it. They kissed for a while. "Okay, I really should be going now." He kissed her chin, opened the door and he left.

When Ben was gone, Miranda sauntered up the stairs and reluctantly started to get ready for her day. A part of her would have loved to stay in bed with Ben all day, their bodies tangled together, watching movies and drinking wine. Another part of her was eager to get to work and figure some stuff out and to take her mind off of things mostly related to her relationship with Ben by practicing medicine. The wind blew mildly as she breezed through the doors of Grey Sloan. Someone fell into step with her and grabbed her right arm. "Calliope."

"Miranda." They smiled as they got on the elevator and walked silently to the attending lounge. Just inside of the lounge door, Callie stopped. "You haven't said anything about anything!" She whisper-yelled.

"Like what? " Miranda asked calmly. She knew that her feigned ignorance was driving Callie crazy. She knew exactly what Callie was talking about. "Give me something. You. Ben. And you already know that Bokhee told me everything that she knows and you know that the nurses know everything."

"Fine," Miranda said rolling her eyes. Callie took a deep breath and started to say something. "But we can talk later. I have to tell you… a lot." Miranda said staring at her best friend. Callie clapped her hands giddily and yelped. She covered her mouth when she saw a few of their colleagues looking in their direction. "Girl, bye." Miranda walked to her locker. She pulled down her stool and sat down. She took a deep breath and started to change into her scrubs.

"So…" The surprise of Ben's voice made several hairs on her arm stand up. He continued: "Guess who had to come in early because Charlie Anderon is sick?"

"You," Miranda said putting on sneakers.

"Yep. How'd you guess?" Ben said crossing his arms.

"I'm smart, I guess. Or," she said turning around to face him. He was so handsome. Physically, he really belonged half-naked in a catalog or a magazine and definitely not in an OR with 80% of his face covered by a mask. "I told Anderon, whoever he is, not to come in because I wanted to see you."

"So sneaky," he said glancing around before he moved in to kiss her lips. It was deep and short and it gave her a jolt of energy. Miranda moaned softly and caressed his neck.

"Ahem!" Someone cleared their throat loudly. Miranda and Ben pulled away from each other, but Ben kept his hand on the small of her back. They looked into stern face of The Chief.

"Sir," Miranda said. And Ben nodded.

"Am I interrupting?" He asked with a still mouth and smiling eyes.

"Nope," Miranda answered. "Dr. Warren and I were debating nasal versus oral anesthetic."

"Of course you were," The Chief said. "Uh, Dr. Warren, can you excuse us please?" Ben nodded again. He whispered in her ear that he was going to be in surgery and he'd call when he got out. He kissed her cheek, squeezed her side and walked away. The Chief watched him walk away. "So, uh, about what we talked about yesterday… how are you making out with that?"

"Well, it was only yesterday, sir. I didn't get a chance to make any progress yet. But, I promise to let you know."

"Right, sorry."

"No need to apologize. I know you're anxious." He nodded. "But I got you, Chief… don't worry."

"Thanks, Bailey." Miranda smiled. "And… I, uh, see you and Ben getting awfully close." Richard raised his eyebrow and stared at his mentee. She blushed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Miranda said putting on her watch.

"That lip-locking session I walked in on. That's very unprofessional."

"Chief… we're—" Miranda started strongly. She was ready to defend an act that she knew wasn't professional at all.

"I'm just kidding, Bailey. You're in the locker room at your own locker and that's fine." Miranda let out a sigh of relief. He laughed. "I'll see you in Mr. Daniels' room in a little bit." Miranda nodded as he walked through the locker room. She could hear conversations stop and knew it was because he was walking by. Miranda hurried and tried to beat The Chief to Mr. Daniels' room; she wanted to make up for her seemingly inappropriate actions in the locker room. She walked into the room two seconds before he did. "Who's presenting?" The Chief asked. Ross, the intern, raised his hand and began to speak.

When he was finished, Miranda said: "Basically, Mr. Daniels, I'm going to go in and resect the tumor off of your abdominal wall. If you have any questions, please let me know."

"Thank you, Dr. Bailey."

"You're welcome." Miranda smiled and walked out of the room with residents and interns in tow.

"Bailey, we'll get him prepped within the next two 0hours," The Chief told her.

Miranda went to the room of her next patient. Robin Thomas, an older woman who had been on the transplant list for five years waiting on a liver. She was a blonde-haired with a thick yellow streak in her head. Her skin was jaundice and about the same color as the streak. "Okay, Robin, You liver will be here tomorrow."

"No offense, Dr. Bailey. But we've heard this before," Robin's wife, Shelley, said. She was a stern and impatient woman.

"Shelley, Shelley, relax… it's not Dr. Bailey's fault. She's doing her job and doing as much as she can. Aren't you, Dr. Bailey?" Robin said slowly turning towards Miranda.

Miranda's heart fell a little. Robin was a really nice woman. Why did it always seem to be the nice ones who were sick? "Yes, Robin. I promise. I'm doing everything in my power." Miranda looked at Shelley. "I'm doing my very best. But the liver will be here and everything should be fine."

"I hope so," Shelley said and she reached for her wife's hand and patted it gently.