I'm heading to Niall's office when my tooth suddenly starts hurting, causing me to stop driving and call him. 'Hey' I say, trying to not show I'm in pain. 'My tooth is hurting really badly, can you take a look please?'
'Sure babe, come along whenever?' He replies. I really don't want to this, I've been scared of the dentist ever since I was young. I start driving again, trying not to think about what could be wrong.
As I enter his office, the lovely receptionist - Katie - asks if I'm here for an appointment, even though Niall will have definitely told her. I walk into his office, trying as hard as I can to not run out crying. I sit on the chair, preparing for the worst, waiting for him to come in. 'Hey V!' He says, cheery as ever. 'Which tooth is hurting?'
'Hey... my top right molar...' I say, nervous. 'Please be gentle, you know I hate the dentist...' I mumble.
'It will be fine! There's nothing to worry about!' He tells me, snapping on gloves and a mask, making me wince. 'Open up!' He instructs.
After 10 minutes of him looking around, I decide it can't be good. What will I need? Filling? Root canal?! EXTRACTION?! No, no, no, no, no. 'I'm sorry babe, really I am.' He sighs. 'You're going to need braces... and a filling.' I guess not going to the dentist for 3 years does have a toll on your teeth.
He's out of the room, getting his dental nurse and all the instruments, when it finally hits me. I've never had anything wrong with my teeth, and now he has to drill into it, and fill it with whatever it is they use. I shudder at the thought.
'Hey Vanessa!' His nurse says. How can anyone be so positive at 17:00 on a Wednesday? 'It won't hurt a bit, don't worry!' I open my mouth, close my eyes, and they start.
It feels like it's been hours, the sound seeming to go on forever. The pain was unbearable, but I didn't want to complain, as they had numbed me. 'All done!' Niall suddenly says.
'R..r..really?' I stammer, unable to move the right side of my mouth. I just want to cry. Niall hugs me in his warm, strong arms - making it even harder for me to not cry.
2 weeks later
I go to his office again, this time for braces. I sit in the waiting room, watching people outside, wondering what they're doing and where they're going when suddenly, I hear my name.
'VANESSA?' She cries. Oh no. Not her. I hate her. I look up, forcing a smile.
'Yep! That's me!' I reply, picking up my bag to follow her. I'm not sure if I'm more or less nervous for my braces.
The orthodontist has been working in my mouth for so long. I chose silver bands so I don't look so much like a child. I look at the clock - 13:30 and change my playlist, getting bored of these songs.
Finally home, my mouth hurts too much to eat anything, so I drink a smoothie through a straw. Niall is complaining about his day, using confusing dental language that I don't understand, so I just nod, saying things such as 'Wow, that must have been very annoying' or 'Oh.' It hurts to brush my teeth, so Niall does it - he's very gentle as he's been trained to work with children and nervous patients. I don't like the thought of him looking at my teeth, but I deal with it.
'Are you going in tomorrow, V?' He asks, sounding concerned.
'I kinda have to, it's my first day in dental school...' I reply, nervous.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don't know what that ending was... I just needed something so... 😀
