The dentist appointment

44. Argument

I brought myself as close to Nina I could. «Nina, come here.» I held out my arms for her and she leans in and hugs me. She then starts to cry. «Shh... I know it's sounds frightening cause you haven't done it before, but I am sure that this is something we can handle together. It is a procedure I've done hundreds of times.» I told her, trying to calm her down. «I don't care wether you have done it over hundred times or only one time, I don't wanna do it!» she shouts at me. I sign. «I understand that, but this just needs to be done.» I tried to speak in a collected voice. 

Nina push herself from me and looks at me sternly. «Harry, I'm done with all this dentist stuff you always make me go through. I understand this is your job, and that you are passionate about it and love what your profession is, but this isn't working for me. I don't need my teeth checked up by you twice a week, I don't need Liam coming over here to have him hoovering over me, for him to watch like a hawk inside my mouth. I don't need you to brush and floss my teeth, I am fully capable to do it myself. I either also don't need for you to tell me about my shitty teeth that always need some work done, drilling cavities or teeth whitening. I am so tired of our relationship having more focus about my teeth, cavities, wisdom teeth, cleanings and flossing, more than actually living a normal life together. This isn't normal for me, Harry. This will never be normal for me, and I absolutely don't want to spend hours in this particularly room of our house every week. This is completely, utterly SHIT!!»

Nina grabs the paper bib and ripped it apart, slices out of the dental chair and march out the door. I am in complete shock of what just happened. Nina have never been the girl to react to anything with this kind of anger. I sign as I can hear her stamping furiously upstairs. What am I going to do now? She really needs the cleaning, for sure, but right now I am not sure how to proceed this. I roll my chair over to the counter by the computer and look over the x-rays again. No, this is gonna be a worse case for her, if I don't remove that tooth very, very soon. I grab my iPhone and dial Liam's number.

Liam's point of view:

I sit at my office desk and write in one of my patients journals as I hear my phone rings, it's Harry. I wonder what he wants knowing he's at home, finished for the day. «Hi mate» I say when I pick the phone. «Hi Liam, I'm sorry to bother you right now, but I really do need your help.» I could hear distress in his voice, and I get a bit worried. «What is it? Is everything alright?» I asked him. «No, nothing is alright at the moment. You know, I told you earlier that today was gonna be the great big day where I get to use my home office for the first time?» He was speaking very fast. «Yes, did Nina not want to be your first patient after all?» I furrowed my eyes together. «No, no. She is my first patient, or, should I say, was?! The thing is... I took some x-rays, wanting to see how deep her cavity was, and to have a look at that wisdom tooth I told you about.»

He signs heavy, before going on talking. «The tooth needs a filling, cause it's very close to a grade three, AND the worst thing. She needs her wisdom tooth taken out the next couple of days to prevent an infection. Her gum area is already red and has started to swell. I told her everything, and I even told her about the consequences if she 'choose' to leave it for a few more days than I recommend at this stage, but she got so angry about it. She ripped the bib off her and run upstairs. I don't know what to.» I could hear Harry crying.

«Harry, listen to me. Everything is gonna be okay. She probably is very overwhelmed right now, and need a break form everything at the moment.» Poor guy. «No, this is not something that's gonna be alright. She told me that she can't stand me talking about her teeth anymore, she doesn't want my help Liam. I am just so shattered right now. All I want to do is help her, but she just hate me for it.» Harry said. «Now, you need to calm down. I need to finish the patient journal I'm currently writing on, I'm very soon done. And when I'm done, I'll come to yours. You and I will have a talk, then we will figure something out, okay? If being her dentist, is as emotionally hard for you as you have been talking about since she told you about her fear, I can transfer her over to my patient list. I can be her dentist, and you can be there as the support she might want. How does that sound?» I could hear Harry sniffle on the other end of the phone. «Y-Yeah, maybe I just need to realise that I can't be her dentist anymore. I don't want us to break-up due to being a dentist.» He started to cry louder.