Random Dental Stories

Blake

"Hey little brother," my sister embraces me in a hug as she opens the door to greet me. "it's been far too long since you've visited. Where have you been all this time?" 

"Work has been relentless these past few months, you know how is." 

"Oh, don't I just? Everything has been manic. I'm lucky I was even able to get today off." As horrible as I sound,  I want to change the subject as soon as possible. I hate talking about work with Samantha. Allow me to clarify, I don't mind talking about my job, it's her job I have the problem with. I realise that doesn't clarify much though, does it?

I might as well give you a quick debrief on my and my sister's lives, that would make a lot more sense. Hi, I'm Blake. I'm 24 years old, I am cripplingly single, and I'm an accountant. My sister couldn't be more different. Samantha is 26, happily married and is a dentist, which just so happens to be my one and only fear. 

Now, when I say fear, I'm not talking about what most people say when they say they have a fear of something. Other people can usually tolerate their fear if they really have to, whereas I break out in a sweat just thinking about it. Does my sister know about this? Does she fuck? Despite her pleas to make me come to her clinic, I have somehow managed to convince her that I get regular check-ups from my friend who is a dentist out of our town. Little does she know that this friend does not exist. Truth is, I haven't been to the dentist since I was about 17. Our parents don't know either. Only my closest friends know about my phobia, and I'm going to keep it that way. 

Samantha invites me inside while going on about how crazy it has been at work recently and I feel my hands start to go sweaty as she talks about the numerous procedures she's done this week. I nod along, but inside I want the ground to politely swallow me whole. We make our way over to the living room and I see that Nick, her husband, is already sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea in his hand, reading 'The Picture Of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde. Sam met Nick at work, so you can imagine how comfortable I feel in a room with two dentists. It doesn't help that there is a low, pulsating throb emanating from my left jaw. 

"Tea?" Sam asks me politely. I nod my head gratefully before turning to Nick. 

"So, how's everything going in the world of Nick?" I push my fears to the side and try to keep things lighthearted. 

"It's going good, thanks. How's everything with you?" I'm relieved when he doesn't go into the same detail about work that Sam did. We make polite small talk back and forth when Sam comes back into the room with two cups of tea in her hands. She hands one back to me before sitting down in the middle of me and Nick. I don't really know why it's been so long since I've visited my sister and her husband. It's been a solid two months and for no glaringly obvious reason besides work. They only live ten minutes down the road. I should really make a point to visit them more often. 

"Oh, Blake, I made some really good flapjacks the other day and I saved some specifically for you when you said you were visiting. I'll go and grab them." Sam says before dashing into the kitchen. I feel a nervous pit in my stomach and my face drains of blood. My tongue moves over to my sore tooth and I gulp, but try to make it as unnoticeable as possible. Sam swiftly returns with a plastic container full of really delicious-looking flapjacks. Sam has always been a bit of an oxymoron in the sense that she was obsessed with teeth and keeping them healthy, yet she was always a very keen baker. Our parents, our other sister Tina, and I were always her test subjects for all her new creations, yet she chastised us if we missed brushing our teeth even once. 

Sam proffers the treats to me and Nick. He takes one, but I decline as a wave of nausea hits my stomach at the thought of the sweet oats hitting my sore tooth. "I had a really big lunch, so I think I'll pass, but thank you." I smile at her, politely declining.