My Boss-Harrington

Part 3

After several minutes of yelling, threatening and a phone call to Flo and Joyce you were able to convince your father to stay. But you hadn't realized that getting him to stay would be the easy part, trying to explain to him what he needed to have done was an absolute nightmare. "Chief, my professional recommendation here is that I fix the chipped tooth and when the socket heals for the missing tooth you go have an implant placed. That would allow you not only the most comfort but the less disruption in your bite." Steve was sitting on the stool in front of your dad holding one of his x-rays and you were standing next to El, both of you watching the exasperating exchange. "Look pretty boy I already told you, I am not going all the way to Chicago for a fake tooth, and if my daughter agrees with you then I will 'allow' you to fix my tooth," you rolled your eyes at the amount of sass he was throwing out over getting a tooth fixed. "Yes dad, you need to have the chipped tooth fixed and it needs to be done ASAP or you run the risk of infection and possibly losing that tooth too." You gave him your serious look and after a minute he finally conceded, "alright fine, but you, Joyce and Flo all owe me big time," he said looking at you and pointing his finger. You smiled at him and walked over to kiss him on the cheek and silently whisper to him, "it'll be fine, I promise." "It better be or I'll find some way to ground you," you both laughed while you stood up to face Steve. "Well let's go handle our other patients, El make sure that he doesn't change his mind and if you need anything tell Penelope and she'll come get me, okay?" El nodded and proceeded to get comfortable in her chair. You gave one more stern look to your dad as you and Steve walked out of the room and shut the door, "I'm sorry about him Steve, he can be impossible sometimes." He simply looked at you and smiled, "Hazel, it's fine everybody knows how the chief is. Now, let's get these other patients knocked out so we can get back to him." You smiled and nodded, Steve heading towards the other exam room and you headed to the reception desk to get the afternoon started.

Despite Steve's earlier reservations you felt that he did a splendid job handling his first round of procedures. You also couldn't lie and say that seeing him with both of your pediatric patients hadn't made you get the butterflies in your stomach that you had been trying to avoid. He was kind and gentle and gave the appearance that he had been doing this for years, which also made you feel better about him dealing with your dad. When the office closed you went in to check on El and your dad only to find them both napping, wishing that you had a camera. You woke up your sister quietly and told her to take the cruiser back to the cabin and start making some soup for your dad for when he got home. You also let the other girls head home since the weather report said there was a good chance for some snow later, after they all left you locked up the front and went to go find Steve. He was in his office sipping on some coffee while looking out the window, you took that moment to quietly admire his form. He had put on some muscle, which was evident by the tightness of his scrub sleeves to his biceps. You also hadn't realized until today just how good looking he was in scrubs and with his glasses. You were starting to disagree with Heather's opinion and would dare to say that he was more attractive now than he had been back in school. You decided to stop yourself from gawking at him any further and cleared your throat to let him know someone was there and he turned around to face you. "I sent the girls and El home, I heard that we might get some snow later and I wanted to make sure they all got home safe," you told him as you leaned against his doorframe, a content look on your face. "Good, hopefully we can get out of here before it starts too," he said giving you his signature Harrington smile. "You did good today Steve, I'd say that you don't have anything to worry about. You keep doing what you did today and you'll have a long career in this field." For the first time you saw Steve Harrington blush, something that you didn't even think was possible. "Thanks Hazel, I couldn't have done it without your help and support, I know why Dr. Greene called you his 'it girl'." You began to feel the butterflies fluttering again at his comment and decided to change the subject, "we better get in there before he escapes since I sent his warden home," you joked turning to head that way. You saw him nod as he finished his coffee and trailed behind you towards what could be his biggest challenge yet. You both walked into the exam room and found him still asleep, not wanting to waste this opportunity you and Steve went to work. You unwrapping the tools you grabbed out of the autoclave and Harrington getting the numbing agents ready. It was only after everything was set up that you shook your dad's shoulder and woke him up, he seemed to have forgotten where he was as he looked at you in his groggy state, "morning kiddo, what are you doing here?" You weren't able to say anything before he reacquainted himself to his surroundings and looked to his other side to see Steve standing there, he closed his eyes tightly and groaned as he placed his hand on his cheek where he had been punched. "Let me guess, you didn't fix it while I was asleep," he said with an aggravated tone. "Dad we couldn't do that, mostly because you would have woken up but also because we need your consent before we do anything." You looked at him with a pleading look to be nice and cooperate, he simply nodded back to you knowing that you had his best interest in mind. You sat down and leaned the chair back, feeling for your dad. Nobody actually knew but your entire family hates going to the dentist, especially you. You couldn't remember the last time that your dad had been in the office voluntarily and you could never forget the first time you brought El when she was younger. You had to hold her hand the entire time to make sure she didn't start throwing sharp objects at Dr. Greene. You kept your fear underwraps, always needing to be the strong one for El and your dad. I mean, what would they say if they knew that Hawkin's best and only dental hygienist was scared of the dentist herself? Steve came and sat down opposite you after putting his gloves and mask on, looking down at your dad and back to you. "Alright chief, I'm just gonna check out that tooth before we start doing anything," your dad just simply ignored him and opened his mouth allowing you and Steve to look at the chipped tooth and the socket on the missing one. "I've got some good news and bad news," Steve said as he sat back and pulled his mask down. "There isn't any root left from the missing one so I don't need to mess with that at all, however, you will need to stop smoking for at least a week to let it heal properly. Also no drinking through a straw or biting on that side either." You thought your dad was going to turn red with anger, but instead just looked at Steve with a blank expression, "noted." Steve huffed with frustration, "also good news, I won't need to do a whole lot of drilling into the tooth to get it repaired." Your dad did seem relieved at that statement, "once we get you numb I can have you out of here in fifteen minutes." He seemed to visibly relax and once again turned to look at Steve, "do what you gotta do, kid." Steve simply nodded and pulled his mask back on, turning to grab the topical gel from the counter. He placed it under your dads cheek and let it sit there for a few minutes, letting the awkward silence set in as you and Steve would steal glances at each other. Once you removed the cotton swab your dad spoke up, "I am going to close my eyes and open my mouth and you are not going to tell me that you are sticking me with the needle, got it?" You looked at Steve with an urging look for him to reply, "you got it Chief." He waited for your dad to do as he said he would before he brought the needle up to stick him, your dad not flinching in the slightest during the injection. Once he was done all he did was place the syringe behind him and sit the chair up, "I'll let that sink in while I go make a quick phone call," and he left the room and headed towards his office. You had turned to start writing in your dad's chart when you heard him, "when's the wedding?" "What in the world are you talking about?," you asked him slightly annoyed with his comment. "I saw the looks you were giving each other kiddo, you can't hide the truth from me." About that time you heard footsteps headed for your direction, "we will talk about this later," you scolded him as Steve came back into the room. "How's that novocaine coming along Hopper?," he asked sitting back down and grabbing gloves from the box behind him. "I think I'm ready," your dad replied as Steve grabbed a scaler from the tray. "Let me just make one hundred percent sure of that," he began poking the gum around your dad's tooth to see if he could feel anything. Once he saw that the anesthetic was working he lowered him back down and grabbed the drill from its holder. "Just a few minutes of this and it'll be quick from there," your dad already had his eyes closed as Steve got started trying to even out the tooth to make it easier to fill. You were observing while trying to keep the suction going and not cringe at the sound of the drill. After a few minutes Steve returned the drill to its holder and began meticulously filling and reshaping his tooth. You using the curing light every so often to help the process go along. Only a few minutes had passed before Steve was already shaping the top of the tooth to match his bite and just as Steve had said you finished curing the tooth at the fifteen minute mark. He sat your dad up and to your surprise the two men shook hands and your dad thanked him for his work. He then turned to you, "I'm assuming you let El drive the cruiser home which means you are my ride, and in that case I would very much like to go home now." You looked up at Steve who simply nodded at you and said, "go ahead, I'll get things cleaned up here." You gave your dad your keys and told him to wait for you in the jeep while you gathered your things. Steve walked you up to the reception area where your coat and purse were, "thank you Steve for doing that, after hours especially." "Hey, it's no problem at all, listen before you head out, there's something I've been wanting to ask you that I haven't had the chance to yet," he said looking down at his feet. "Is there something wrong?," you were afraid that your dad had offended him by acting like such a child earlier. "No, I was just wondering if you would like to go out sometime, maybe to dinner tomorrow night?" You were stunned, you couldn't believe that he was asking you out. You might have stayed in your stunned trance if you hadn't heard your horn blare from outside, your dad signaling for you to hurry up. Coming back into reality you didn't have time to think on it before you blurted out, "yes, I would really like that." Steve let out a breathe that he seemed to be holding in and smiled at you, "how about tomorrow night, say around eight I'll come pick you up?" You smiled back at him, but deep down you were now the nervous one, "that sounds great, I'll give you my address tomorrow." Before you could say anything else you heard your horn blare out again, "I'm sorry I better get him home," you said as you started towards the door. You waved and smiled at him again before exiting the office, he returned the wave and you jogged off towards your jeep to take your cranky dad home.