I Want You

Mystery

Mystery

"Please, Warren. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important, but my tooth is killing me. I need to get to the dentist." Ben gave his friend, Justin Knox, a blank stare. The white man with prematurely graying blonde hair looked at him. They were walking out of the locker room. It had been a few weeks and Ben was finally getting the hang of Seattle Grace-Mercy West, finally looking like he belonged and starting to feel like it, too.

"What do I get out of it?"

"I will do your notes for a week."

"Make it two."

"Damn you," Knox said laughing. "I thought we were friends."

"If we weren't, it would have been a month," Ben answered with a laugh. He'd known Knox for almost ten years. They'd met as undergrads, Knox already a couple of years ahead, but they'd hit it off and had become great friends. And even though Knox had been at Seattle Grace and Ben at Mercy West, they remained very close. "Who's the surgeon?" Ben took out his phone to make a note in his calendar.

"Um, it's Bailey."

"I don't know him," Ben said looking up and shaking his head.

"You know if Angela heard that, she would call you a sexist," Knox commented.

"She definitely would. Don't tell her what I said," Ben said, shaking his head. "So, who is Bailey?"

"The most... hmm... how do I describe Bailey?" Knox scratched his beard. His friend shrugged. "I'll put it like this: She is short, no-nonsense and very, very straightforward." Ben raised his eyebrows. He opened his mouth and closed it quickly. "Just ask the question, Warren," the older man said with a loud laugh.

"Is she cute?"

"She's not a bunny or a twenty-year-old." Ben shrugged. "Plus, I didn't know you were looking so soon?"

"Nothing permanent. Just something temporary."

Knox made a noise and sighed. "I don't think you're ready for that. I don't think you're that kind of guy either."

Ben stopped in front of the elevators. "What kind of guy?"

"A 'hit it and quit it' kind of guy."

"I'm not," Ben admitted. He looked up at the clock on the wall.

"And Bailey isn't even the kind of woman that would go for a temporary thing."

"Mmhm. I guess I'd better get going."

"Okay. Thanks, man." Knox started to walk away.

"Unh-huh." Ben pushed the "up" button. "And I want to see a note from your dentist," he added.

"What are you talking about?"

"I want to make sure you're not trying to get some quality time with the wife and just pretending to go to the dentist."

Knox cracked up as the elevators opened up. "Would the former be so damn bad?" The younger man shook his head. "I'll text you."

"Copy."

Ben stepped into the slowly crowding OR. He looked at the surgeon standing next to the operating table. Must be Bailey, he thought. The woman smiled brightly and spoke in a high-pitched voice. "Okay, everyone, let's do this, shall we?" She nodded to a nurse who turned on some music. "Thank you, Jamie."

As the music started, Dr. Bailey made a cut into the patient. She made quick eye contact with Ben and he got a look at her hazel eyes. He pulled out a magazine from his lab coat. "What are you reading?" She asked.

"Uh, the Journal of Clinical Anesthesia," Ben said holding up the magazine.

"Sounds... interesting."

"Well, I do like to keep current," he answered. Ben took the chance to check her out. He could see some blonde hair peeking from underneath her scrub cap. Cute. What was Knox talking about? Dr. Bailey was of average height, not short unless he meant short-tempered, but even then, the woman seemed nice. Her intern had made a mistake and instead of getting pissed, the woman had them backtrack and fix it. Ben shook his head. His friend had made it seem like she was someone to be feared. But she was perky and very attractive. He wasn't usually into white women, but from his experience, all women had the power to break your heart.

"The best doctors do, I think." The patient's monitor sounded. Ben put his magazine down and listened to her instructions. "Uh, okay, this is what we're going to..." After surgery, Ben pulled off his mask and checked on the patient who seemed to be doing well. "Good job to each and every one of you," the surgeon said looking around the room.

In the locker room, Ben prepared to go home. He had a text from Knox: How was it?

He replied: What?

On his way home, his best friend called him. "Bro, I'm talking about Bailey."

"What about her?"

"Did she complain that you weren't me?"

"No, why should she? Why would she?"

Knox paused. "Oh."

"Do you have a crush on this Dr. Bailey or what? Because you are weirding me out."

A hearty laugh hit Ben's ear. "Watch it, I'm married. But that doesn't sound like the Bailey I know."

"Well, she was nice and cheery. I was a litt—"

"Wait, what?"

"What what?" Ben said, pulling into his designated park at his apartment. He got out and walked through the garage and headed to his two-bedroom apartment. Kicking off his shoes, he wandered into his kitchen.

"You said she was 'cheery'."

"Yes. And you said she was short, but I'm only a few inches taller than she is."

Ben heard crying on the other side of the phone most likely coming from Knox's daughter and his goddaughter, Ava, who probably needed attention. "I gotta go. Paige just walked in with your screaming goddaughter."

"Give her a kiss for me."

"Which one?"

"Both," Ben smiled.

"You could just come over and kiss them yourself." Ben didn't answer. Knox waited. Ben hadn't been over to their house since his breakup. Seeing the little family always reminded him of what he could have had but didn't. Jealousy was such a disgusting characteristic, but it fit his mood. He wanted a woman who loved him somewhat unconditionally and children. He wanted kids so badly; he was so good with them and he would be a great dad. But, apparently, none of that was in his life plan yet. "Warren?"

"I will. I've just been so busy lately."

"Right," Knox said knowing that his friend was lying. He let him do it anyway. "Alright, let me go because my wife is looking at me like she's gonna chop me up." They laughed again and ended the call.

Ben fixed himself a sandwich and sat on his sofa watching recorded TV shows until he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. He dreaded going to his empty bedroom, but another long day awaited him and he needed some rest.