closed starter for: @themirandabaileyââ
The pain started at some point in the middle of the night â Elaine had woken out of a deep sleep to the sharp pain in her abdomen. Pain that, any medical professional, would immediately be able to identify without a second thought. And, perhaps she wouldâve, had she not been Elaine. Elaine valued her sleep too much, and decided to ignore the pain and roll over to attempt to go back to sleep.
And, as to be expected, it got much worse as time went on. Within a few hours, the sun was rising and Elaine was laying in bed still wide awake, her skin hot as she slowly became more and more feverish. But, she had work to get done. So she dragged her ass out of bed, got ready for work, and went in early for the day.
Elaine practically boarded herself up in her office, avoiding interactions as much as possible, quietly getting as much done as she could. It had been a little over twelve hours since the pain started, that was around the point to where Elaine couldnât bear it any longer. Between the fever, the pain, and the nausea, she was no longer able to ignore it and push through. By then, sheâd pieced together what was going on, and decided that it was time to handle it. To just get it over with, so that way she could get back to work without too much of a fuss.
Quickly, and without much stability, Elaine made her way to Mirandaâs office, deciding that even with their constant bickering and fighting, Miranda was one of the only people she fully trusted in that situation. Trust was a tricky concept for Elaine, though she didnât have much of a choice left. Hobbling into the office, she shut the door and sat down in one of the chairs opposite the womanâs desk without a word, carelessly brushing her hair away from her flushed face as tears started to well in her eyes.
âSo, um,â she started shakily, âyouâre not busy this afternoon, right? I-I know youâre not, actually, because I checked the OR schedules, a-and since youâre not â I really need a favor right now.â
Holidays meant surgeries, and surgeries meant paperwork. Lots of it. Not to mention that, with the new year, Miranda was busy going through all the doctors files, getting ready for yearly reviews and possible raises - where the budget permitted - as well as seeing if there was room to bring any more doctors on board. All that to say, while surgeries were definitely a dime a dozen lately, Miranda was pretty much stuck in her office full time, dealing with the part of being the chief of surgery that her predecessors seemed to fail to mention to her.Â
She would make sure to give Richard Webber an earful the next time she saw him, for not fully preparing her for the amount of work that came with this position.Â
Still, she pushed through, knowing that the sooner she could finish everything in front of her, the sooner she could try to schedule herself some more OR time. While sheâd never truly forget how to do operations, she wondered if her skills might lapse with how little time sheâd been there lately. Sighing, she contemplated looking for something simple that afternoon - an appendectomy, a cholecystectomy; something quick that would get her back with a scalpel in her hand if only for thirty minutes.Â
Putting what sheâd finished in its proper places, she was about to stand up and go do just that when the door to her office opened, and none other than Elaine Sawyer walked inside. Bailey was going to make some sort of quip, but a quick glance in the redheadâs direction told her that now wasnât the time. The chief of the hospital looked horrible, and when she mentioned needing a favor from Miranda herself, the surgeon knew there was definitely something going on.
âOkay...â she stated, standing up to move over and push a chair in Elaineâs direction. âWhy donât you sit down before you fall down, and then you can tell me what this favor is.â Though she had a suspicion her day might be taking an interesting turn after all.





















