My sister a dentist my brother a doctor

Dallas's appointment

DALLAS'S POV

I was holding on to my mom like my life depended on it. My hands were clutching her shirt, my body trembling with fear. I couldn't stop thinking about how much pain I was already in, and the thought of what was coming next made me feel like I couldn't breathe.

"Dallas, honey, you're going to be okay," my mom whispered, but I couldn't even hear her over the pounding in my chest.

My whole body was stiff, and I could feel tears starting to sting my eyes, but I didn't want to cry. Not yet.

"My mouth hurts already, Mommy," I whimpered, my voice cracking with the fear and pain that were twisting inside me.

I didn't want to sit in that big chair. It looked so scary, so cold, with all those tools I didn't understand. I felt like I might scream, but I didn't know what would happen if I did.

"I know, sweetheart, but Auntie Taylor is going to help," my mom said softly, her hands running through my hair, trying to comfort me. "She's going to make it better, okay? She'll take care of your mouth so it doesn't hurt anymore. You trust Auntie Taylor, right?"

I wanted to trust her, I really did, but the way my heart was racing and the way my stomach felt like it was tied in knots nothing felt okay. I glanced over at the chair. The light was so bright, and the chair looked huge. It felt like a trap. Then I looked up at Aunt Taylor, and I saw her smiling at me, but even that couldn't calm the fear spreading through me. I felt so small. So helpless. I looked at my mom one more time, still holding on tight to her. I didn't want to sit in the chair, but eventually, I let go and let her sit me down, though my body was fighting it every step of the way. My hands were still shaking, and I was panicking inside.

"Are you okay if I lay the chair back, honey?" Taylor asked softly, her voice gentle but firm.

I barely nodded, but I couldn't speak. My throat felt tight, and I couldn't even swallow. Taylor slowly tilted the chair back, but it felt like I was falling into a giant abyss. My stomach lurched, and I grabbed the sides of the chair, my knuckles going white. She pulled me up a little and adjusted me closer to her. The bright light above my face was blinding, and it felt like everything was closing in. Then, she put on her gloves and mask. The sound of the gloves snapping into place made my heart jump. Every little thing felt like a warning, like something bad was about to happen.

"You're okay, sweetheart. We're just going to take a quick look, and then we'll figure out what's wrong with your tooth," Taylor said, but it felt so far away, like her words didn't even reach me.

My whole body was tense, and I couldn't stop shaking. She asked me to open my mouth, but I was too scared to do it at first. Everything inside me screamed to run, to get out of that chair, but I opened my mouth anyway, just a little bit, enough for her to see. The first tap of the explorer on my teeth made my whole body jerk. The feeling was strange, cold, and hard, and it sent a shiver down my spine. I couldn't stop my body from tensing, and I tried to hold my breath.

"Good job, Dallas. Just a little longer, okay?" Taylor's voice was calm, but my body didn't believe her.

It just felt like more pressure, more cold, more of everything I didn't want. Then she skipped over one of my teeth and tapped the next one. I flinched harder this time, the sound of the metal tool against my tooth too sharp, too painful. I wanted to pull away, to scream, but I couldn't move. My mouth felt like it was full of rocks, heavy and unyielding. The pain started to build, sharp and pulsing, and my whole body went rigid.

"She's got a pretty good-sized cavity here," Taylor said, looking at my mom. "I might need to use laughing gas to help her relax while I work on it. If you want to take Paige to the waiting room, she doesn't have to watch."