flatline [m.s]

xxxiv.

- - -
most surgeons grew up as freaks. while other kids played outside, we hold up in our rooms memorizing our periodic table, hovering for hours over our junior microscopes, dissecting our first frogs.
- - -

"hey, bailey," lia greets miranda who's leaning on the nurses station, occupied by her phone. "i keep getting forty two intern questions an hour. can they rotate through your service, just for today?"

"oh sure," bailey answers before giggling at her phone.

"thanks..." lia says, frowning with uncertainty. "what is with you?"

"nothing," bailey insists, sliding her phone into the pocket of her lab coat.

"is it the guy?" lia asks, referring to the anaesthesiologist that bailey had started dating recently, earning a gasp from bailey. "it's the guy! he brought you coffee?"

"no," bailey laughs. "you think i smile like this for coffee. uh, he's making me dinner."

"he's cooking?" lia asks, and bailey nods. "wow. you ready?"

"what, for food?" bailey raises her brow. "yeah, i think i can handle it."

"uh, no, for sex," lia clarifies.

"what?" she gasps. "n- grow up."

"oh, give me a break," lia chuckles. "how many dates have you had?"

"this'll be three."

"oh, yeah," lia smirks. "yeah, third date's the sex date. and he's cooking for you... at his home... where he keeps his bed."

"you spend too much time with mark sloan," bailey argues. "i barely know the man."

"well, you're gonna know him a lot better tomorrow," she teases, and bailey laughs.

"there is nothing magic about a third date," bailey insists. "it is possible to eat and go home and not lose your pants in the process."

"okay," lia raises her hands in defeat, before turning as though she is about to walk away but bailey stops her.

"uh, but if it does go that way, am i supposed to sleep over?" she quietly asks as a couple of residents walk by.

"oh, no," lia shakes her head. "no. sex on the couch. walk of shame to the car under the cover of darkness."

"do i wear a dress?" bailey begins flooding the young surgeon with questions and advice.

"unh-unh," she shakes her head again. "casual, like- like you don't expect it's gonna happen, but you're ready for it to happen."

"oh," bailey frowns. "how ready?"

"like... you've prepped the surgical field-" lia begins to answer but bailey cuts her off.

"the sur..." she begins to question before gasping when she reaches a realisation. "oh, alivia."

"there is a ukrainian woman who works at the manicure place across the street," lia informs her, handing her a piece of paper. "she will take care of you."

■ ■ ■

"hey," mark smiles at lia as he places his tray of food down on the table that she, callie and arizona are sat at in the cafeteria. "what are you guys talking about? girl on girl on girl?"

"no," lia frowns, softly hitting mark for the remark he made.

"bailey has a sex date tonight," callie informs him and lia shoots her a scowl. "what?"

"a sex date?" mark smirks. "bailey?"

"this is why you can't tell him stuff like this," lia rolls her eyes. "i shouldn't have even told you two."

"so bailey told you about her sex date?" mark raises his brow at her.

"yeah," lia shrugs. "i was just giving her some advice."

"oh, because we have so many amazing sex dates?" mark smirks.

"ew, gross," arizona frowns whilst callie chuckles.

"no," lia shakes her head as her pager goes off. "speaking of bailey, she's paging me nine one one."

lia then stands up from the table and heads to the on call room that bailey paged her to.

"condoms," bailey says when lia arrives.

"you paged me nine one one for... condoms," lia furrows her brow. "they have them in the clinic."

"no, no," bailey shakes her head. "am i supposed to bring them?"

"oh," lia laughs. "oh, miranda. yeah, um... guys bring the condoms. okay. anyhow, i would've pegged you for the diaphragm type."

"well, i have a diaphragm," bailey admits. "diaphragms prevent pregnancies. they don't protect against the raft of sexually transmitted diseases. you're a physician. am i really explaining this to you?"

"i got it. i got it," lia holds her hands up in defeat. "okay. look, guy brings the condoms, but sometimes they fail to provide them on the third date as a sign of respect; 'oh, i never imagined this would happen so soon. oh, i wasn't prepared'. so you know what? you should bring 'em. always bring 'em. why trust the guy, right? right. right. alright."

"alright. alivia," bailey says then mutters something lia can't understand.

"hmm?" she asks, and she mutters again. "come on."

"i can't. i..." bailey sighs.

"you can," lia encourages. "walk into the clinic and take some condoms out of the box."

"don't make me ask you twice," bailey threatens, and lia nods. "and while we're on the subject- i went to eugenia."

"mm," lia nods.

"she held up two postage stamps and asked me if i was looking for the forty four cent or the three," bailey tells her.

"um, you don't have to tell me which one you picked," lia assures her.

"i left!" bailey exclaims. "look... look, let me tell you a little something about my surgical field. okay? i prep my surgical field with soap and water. i keep my surgical field the way god made it. okay? i don't need a member of the ukranian k.g.b waxing it smooth so that it can be mistaken for the surgical field of a five year old girl. i am a woman, and a woman was meant to have something on her surgical field. if a man can't deal with a little something on the surgical field, a little nature, a little god, then that man has no business getting near my surgical field."

lia stands in front of bailey, eyes wide from her outburst and rant. "fine. i'm not putting a gun to your head."

- - -
nobody chooses to be a freak. most people don't realize they're a freak until it's way to late to change it. no matter how much of a freak you end up being, chances are there's still someone out there for you.
- - -

"so today," lia begins climbing into her bed where mark is currently lying. "i had to smuggle a handful of condoms from the clinic for bailey."

"did you take any for yourself?" mark smirks as he pulls her into him.

"i did not," she grins, leaning in to kiss him.

"that's a shame," he continues to smirk. "we could've had a sex date of our own."

- - -
inless of course, they've already moved on. because when it comes to love, even freaks can't wait forever.
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