Living with my greatest fear.

~Chapter 27~

Grant's POV:

Now that Ellie is sitting back in the chair again, I can start to fix her crack along her tooth. I get some topical gel on a cotton bud and bring it to Ellie's mouth. Almost forgetting that I promised that I would tell Ellie what I was going to do before I did it, I moved the cotton bud away from her mouth slightly to tell her what I'm about to do.

"I'm just going to put some topical gel on your gum by your tooth now, okay? It might be a bit cold but it'll put your gum to sleep so you don't feel the needle as much."

Ellie nods.

I put the gel on her gum that surrounds her tooth and then take the cotton bud out and put it back on the tray.

"That's going to need a few minutes to kick in, do you want me to put the chair back up?"

Ellie nods. I move the tray out of her way so she can sit up, move my mask under my chin again and put my gloves in the bin. 

I put the chair back up and go over to where my computer is to update a bit of Ellie's files and just finish off one file that I didn't quite finish earlier on.

"Grant, can you pass Ellie her phone, please?" Tobey asks me as the tray is in the way for Ellie to get up and get it.

"There you go, princess," I say, giving her a kiss on the top of her head too.

*2 MINUTES LATER*

"Can I recline the chair back again, so I can see if I can start to fix your tooth?" I ask Ellie.

She just nods again, I assume it's because she doesn't want to lick the gel off her gum. As I start to recline the chair I ask Tobey for another pair of gloves and Ellie passes me her phone to put on the counter again. Once the chair has reclined backwards again, I wash my hands, put my mask up, put my gloves on, sit under Ellie's head again and move the tray back over her chest.

"I'm just going to use my explorer to see if your gum is numb, okay, princess?"

She nods again so I start to check and ask her if she can feel different parts of her gum. I think her gum is all numb so I put my explorer down on the tray and pick up the needle to inject the anaesthetic to numb her tooth.

"I just need to numb your tooth now, E. I'll do it as pain free as I can, okay?"

"Mhm.."

"Just close your eyes then for me, love.." I get her to close her eyes so she doesn't get scared when the needle comes closer to her mouth. The last thing I want to happen is her to jolt my hand and for me to hurt her.

Once I'm done with numbing her tooth I tell her that she can open her eyes again and it will also take a couple of minutes to kick in, so I put the chair back up again. I throw my gloves in the bin, put my mask down and go back over to my computer to check a couple of things on the system like my schedule for tomorrow and some of my patients' files that James had earlier to see how things went and when they are back in.

That takes a couple of minutes so by the time I've finished doing that, I go back over to Ellie and Tobey and ask Ellie if she is ready for me to start again. To that, she nods like usual.

I get myself all sorted; reclining the chair, getting another pair of gloves on, moving the tray, putting the light on and putting it over Ellie's mouth and putting my mask back on. I tell Ellie that I'm about to start to use the drill to just drill a bit around the crack.

*5 MINUTES LATER*

I've finished drilling around the crack so now I tell Ellie that I'm just going to fill it with some composite, put the curing light over it and she will be done.

*5 MINUTES LATER*

I'm all done with the composite and the curing light now, so I turn the light above the chair off and move it away, move the tray out of Ellie's way and put the chair back up.

"You're all done, E!" I say, taking my gloves off and moving around so I'm sat by the side of the exam chair.

"Yay! Finally!" She says back.

"It wasn't too bad, was it?!"

"I guess not, but I don't want to have to do it again.." She says, immediately going shy again.

I stand up and put my arms out for her to stand up and give me a hug. She gets up and gives me a hug.

"You did so well, baby, I'm so proud of you!" I say to her, giving her another kiss on the top of her head.

"I've just got to update your file and clean up and then we can go home, yeah?" Ellie just nods in my arms. "Do you want to go and sit in the waiting room or the staff room until I'm finished?"

"I'll go and sit in the staffroom.."

"Okay, princess. I won't be too long." I say, smiling at her as she picks her phone up and leaves to go and sit in the staffroom.

Ellie's POV:

I'm so glad that it's over now. It wasn't too bad in the fact that it didn't hurt but it was just uncomfortable at points. Grant was proud of me for going through all of it which did make me quite happy. I make my way to the staffroom to sit in there whilst Grant is cleaning the exam room. As I get there, I check through the window of the door if anyone was in there, I don't think there is. I'm glad about that because I really don't fancy having to speak to James. Not after having to sit in my worst nightmare for an hour and a bit. I never want to speak to him on a good day but really not now. I kind of feel bad for hating him so much but it's because he was always used to 'threaten' me to do something. Like if I didn't get out of the car Grant would go and get James and he would just carry me into the clinic and sit me in the exam chair no matter how much I was crying. He never asked me why I didn't want to get out of the car like Tobey had done. That's the difference between James and Tobey. One understands me and the other just doesn't care. No matter how much Grant tries to tell me he is nice and caring.

Tobey's POV:

Grant and I are currently just wiping everything down in the exam room ready for tomorrow morning.

"Ellie did really well earlier," I said to Grant, "Do you think she's getting less anxious?"

"Yeah she did. I don't know. I don't really think so. She was fine throughout it when we got going again but once we had finished she started to go quieter and more shy."

"Maybe after you have fixed her chips she will be less anxious.." I say.

"Possibly. I don't think she will ever truly not be scared to come here though. It'll take a lot for her to properly trust me when it comes to this." Grant replies but with a sad tone.

"It's just a lot for her to deal with I think. Just think how far she has come from when you first tried to bring her in here. It'll take time but I think she's making progress. We have just got to slow things down for her."

"Yeah, I think that's what's helped her today:  taking my time with her and making sure she is comfortable with things before I start."

"Yeah, me too, mate."

"Thanks for helping me with Ellie, Tobey. It really helps."

"Of course, mate. Do you want to go and take Ellie home? I'll finish up here, if you want."

"Only if you're happy to?" Grant asks me.

"Yeah, of course. Go and spend some time with Ellie as her brother."

"Cheers, Tobey."

"No problem. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Tobey."

Grant's POV:

I pick my phone up from the counter and log off my computer and then make my way out of my exam room to go and find Ellie in the staffroom.

"Hey, E. You ready to go home now?" I ask Ellie, picking my bag up from the sofa and putting it on my shoulder. Ellie nods and stands up making her way out of the staffroom.

a/n - 12k reads!!! thank you all so so much for reading this. it genuinely means so much to me that u guys like it!!! any comments or suggestions are always appreciated 😁 <33