Butterflies

Loopy

Dr. Finn and Lee finished setting up before both snapping on some gloves and tying masks around their faces. I sat there waiting as Shawn continued to rub circles on my hand. Lee rolled his chair down to where my arm was resting and immediately tied a band just above my elbow. With that, he grabbed the start of the IV and brought it over, covering the needle with his gloved finger. 

"Time to put you to sleep, Rach" Lee said, nudging my arm. I turned it towards him, watching him immediately start to look for a good vein. I took a deep breath and kept my eyes on Shawn as I felt the needle being inserted into my skin. Within a few seconds, Lee had covered it in tape and attached the syringe full of general anesthesia. "Alrighty now can you try and count down from ten with me?" Lee asked. Shawn grabbed my hand and I leaned my head back, staring at the ceiling as Lee began to push the medicine through the IV.

"Ten, nine, eight..." I said, feeling completely fine. I squeezed Shawn's hand tightly. "Seven, six, five..." I continued as the room began to spin. "Four, three-"

***

I opened my eyes to the bright fluorescent lights that all seemed to be pointed directly towards me. There were many voices speaking in the room but I couldn't understand what they were saying. They seemed to fade in and out, only letting me hear every couple words. 

"This was a fairly complicated procedure" one of them said. "...lots of pain for a couple days..." it continued. I couldn't tell where it was coming from. "We got the teeth out..... follow up appointment soon". The sound of the voice came and went as I tried to figure out how I had gotten here. "Take good care of her and I'll see both of you soon".

"Yes Sir. Thank you Dr. Finn" another voice said. At that moment, Shawn came into my view and noticed I was awake. "Oh, look who's up!" he said. I laid there confused as the room began to spin. 

"Rachel, you did a great job" Dr. Finn said as he walked next to me. "You're all done!" 

"Awl dome?" I asked, surprised to hear I couldn't speak correctly. 

"Rach, you have lots of gauze in your mouth so it's gonna be hard to talk for a bit. You need to leave that in until Dr. Finn says its okay." Shawn said, smiling at me as he grabbed my hand. I tried touching the gauze with my tongue but I couldn't feel anything. My whole body felt numb. 

"Looks like she's gonna be out of it for at least a couple more hours" Dr. Finn spoke to Shawn. They both chuckled and turned their attention back to me. I didn't like this feeling. It seemed as if I had no control of my body. Shawn must of noticed because he reached forward and wiped a tear from my cheek. Had I been crying? My emotions took control of me and soon enough, I really was crying and I didn't know why. Shawn continued to chuckle as he reassured me that I was going to be okay. I reached my arms out and he stood up, taking a seat next to me in the large dental chair. I moved so I was sitting in his arms and rested my numb face into his chest. He squeezed me and it felt as if my body was rocking back and forth. If Shawn wasn't holding onto me, I'd probably fall right over. 

After a few minutes of waiting for the anesthesia to wear off, Dr. Finn came back into the room and snapped on some gloves. 

"Lets take that gauze out, shall we?" he smiled as he sat down. Shawn laid me back into the chair and I saw the light being directed towards my face again. "Open for me, Rach" he said. I did as I was told and opened my mouth, not feeling anything as he reached in. I watched him take out a few balls of cotton that had been stained red. He then put some tools in my mouth and began to look around, making sure that whatever he had done looked okay. 

"Look's great. I think we are all done for today." Dr. Finn said, pulling off his mask. The chair sat up and they finally turned off all of the bright lights. "Let me go grab a wheelchair so we can get you home."

I felt Shawn's arms wrap around me as he lifted me to my feet. Dizziness rushed through my head and I used Shawn for support, putting most of my weight onto him. He turned me and guided me down into the chair, placing my feet on the rests and setting my purse on my lap. 

"I wanna go home" I mumbled, still having no control of my lips.

"I know, Rach. We will be home soon." Shawn said. He grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and began to push me through the dental office. Dr. Finn followed us outside and we stopped at the door to the car. 

"This part can be challenging" Dr. Finn laughed as he opened the door. Shawn pulled me up and I flopped onto him, as if my body were a limp noodle. He placed me in the passenger seat of the car and buckled me in. He kissed my forehead before slowly closing the door, trying not to accidentally hit my arm. Through the window, I watched him shake hands with Dr. Finn who took the wheelchair and returned back into the building. With that, Shawn climbed into the drivers seat and turned towards me. 

"Let's go home".