My Brother, My Fear, Dr. Xavier Blake, DDS

Chapter 13

The next day, I went through school like normal, hanging out with Aydon, Bo and Reese. Aydon kept flirting with me, and it made me laugh.
He's a good guy. After school Xavier had texted me to come to the office. I was scared, but I knew that if I didn't, he would get really mad.
I walked partway to the office with Aydon, and walked into my brother's office. I was playing on my phone, when Gabe came into the room. "Hey Ari." He said. "Hi." I replied. "You ready for your appointment?" He asked.
"What? I don't have an appointment." I exclaimed. "Yes you do Ari. I told you last week. I'm going to tighten your braces today." I glared at him. "No!" I shouted.
"Seriously Ari. If you can't calm down, I'm going to have to call your brother in here." Said Gabe sternly. I started crying, and curled up into a ball on the couch. Gabe sighed. He walked over to me, hugging me.
"Come on Ari, the faster you cooperate the faster it's done." He said. I sighed. Gabe took that as a signal, and picked me up, carrying me into the room.
He placed me on the chair, closing the door behind him. Xavier was already in the room, sitting next to me on a chair.
Gabe reclined the chair back, and put on his gloves. "Can you open your mouth Ari?" He said. I shook my head, and my brother held my hand.
"Please Ari?" Said Gabe. "I'll be super gentle. At first I'm just going to take the elastics off, okay?" He said softly. Xavier squeezed my hand, and I slowly opened my mouth, squeezing my eyes shut.
Gabe looked around my mouth, examining my teeth. "You're doing so well Ari." Said Gabe. "I'm going to remove the elastics and the wire now, okay?" I couldn't respond, as his tools were still in my mouth, so I just looked at him.
"I know you can't talk Ari. I just find that most patients like to know what I'm going to do before I do it." Said Gabe.
I guess that makes sense. I just blinked. Gabe took all the elastics off, and took out the wire. I closed my mouth, wanting a break, but Gabe wasn't done. I looked to my brother, and he smiled at me. "You'll be fine Ari." He said. I sighed. "Ari." Said Gabe. "Yeah?" I replied. "This time, to attach the wire to your brackets, I'm going to use metal ties instead. This means that you don't have to come to the office as often okay?" He said. I nodded.
"Are you sure?" Said Xavier. "Metal ties tend to hurt more. I don't want Ari to be in a lot of pain." He said.
"Xavier, she'll be fine. It doesn't hurt that much more, and she won't have to come to the office as much, which I think she'll like." He argued to my brother. Xavier sighed.
"Fine. But if she ends up hating you, it's your fault." Gabe groaned. "I'm just trying to do what's best for her." He said. "Ari open."
I opened my mouth, anxious, because Xavier said it would hurt more, but on the other hand, I don't like coming to the office at all. Gabe put the wire in place, and starting with the ties.
I squeezed Xavier's hand like my life depended on it. This hurt so much more than last time. I felt the pressure build on one tooth, and then Gabe cut the end of the tie.
He tucked the end around the wire, and moved on to the next tooth. He secure the wire with a steel tie, wrapping the steel around the bracket, tightening it all the way. He cut the end, and moved on.
He did this for all of my bottom teeth, and by that point I was sobbing. I needed a break, so I sat up, and leaned into Xavier. I sobbed into him, and he tried to comfort me as much as he could. I saw him glare at Gabe, but he just shrugged it off.
"You're okay Ari. Your half way done." Whispered Xavier to me. He coaxed me to lie down again, and open my mouth. This time, Gabe was working on my top teeth.
He carefully worked on each bracket, tying it to the wire. Soon enough, he was done, and he sat up the chair. I jumped off, into Xavier's arms. My mouth hurt so so so much, and it was all Gabe's fault.
I glared at him, tears in my eyes. "I'm sorry Ari." He apologized. "It'll help you in the future. You won't have to come as much. You're even luckier, next appointment you'll probably have to get a forsus appliance, but that appointment is farther away, because you have steel ties." Said Gabe.
I sighed, and turned away. Xavier carried me back to his office, placing me on the couch. "You know he just wants what's best for you Ari." Said Xavier. He passed me an Advil. I groaned.
"That's what you say every time, but every time he hurts me! I hate him!" I exclaimed. Just as I said that, Gabe walked in. I saw a look of pain cross his face, but he quickly covered it.
"Xavier I need to talk to you about something." He said seriously. Xavier nodded, and they left the office. I was playing games on my phone, when I got a text from Reese.
Reese: Ari I'm really really sorry, but I can't hang out tomorrow. My grandma had a heart attack and she's in the hospital.
Me: I'm sorry Reese. It's fine, we can hang out some other time. I hope your grandma recovers well.
Reese: Thank you so much Ari! I'll see you on Monday
Me: See ya Monday

I guess I'm not doing anything tomorrow then. I sighed. Just then, I got another text, this time it was from Aydon.
Aydon: Do you want to hang out tomorrow?
Me: Sure
Aydon! Meet at the park at 1?
Me: 👍
Now I have something to do. I looked forwards to hanging out with Aydon. I guess I kinda have a crush on him, he's so cute and goofy, and he always makes me smile.
I don't know if he likes me like that, so I can only hope, but I really hope he does.

Xavier's POV (when Gabe was talking to him)

"What's up?" I said. "Just so you know, Ari's in there, crying because of you." I glared at him.
"Dude chill! Worst thing that'll happen is that it hurts for a week. After that she has five more weeks without coming back. I think she'd prefer that over five days of pain, and then seeing me two weeks later." Said Gabe.
I sighed. "I know, I just feel like I did that to her. So what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked. "I know I said she doesn't need teeth pulled. She doesn't. But she needs a forsus, headgear and elastics. Just warning you, she has a bit of a long road ahead of her. Next appointment, I'll probably put in the forsus, to start correcting her overbite. She'll probably have that for seven to nine months, and then headgear at night for maybe around a year. Then elastics for a few months." Said Gabe.
I sighed. I do feel guilty, this was partially my fault, I brought her to Gabe and forced her to get braces, but I know when she gets older she'll thank me. "Thanks for telling me." I said to Gabe.
He nodded, and I walked back into my office, seeing Ari smiling at her phone. "What's up?" I asked her. "I'm hanging out with Aydon tomorrow." She said, smiling. "I thought you were hanging out with Reese?" I asked.
She shrugged. "Her grandma had a heart attack, so she can't anymore. Then Aydon texted me asking if I wanted to hang out, and I said yes." She said to me. "I want to meet this Aydon." I said.
I need to protect my little sister, even thought she might not like it. She grinned. "Can he come over for dinner tomorrow night?" She asked. "Sure." I replied. She grinned, texting him.
"We're heading home now." I said. She nodded, putting her phone away and grabbing her bag. We all got in the car, Ari glaring at Gabe. We drove home, and went into the house.
I quickly cooked some chicken and some brown rice, and put some frozen vegetables in the microwave.
A few minutes later, I called Gabe and Ari for dinner. They both came into the kitchen grabbing a plate, and starting putting food on it. Gabe took a normal portion, while all Ari took was a tiny bit of rice and a spoonful of peas.
I sighed, while frowning at Gabe. He of course didn't notice, and kept eating. "Ari you have to eat more than that." I said. "But it hurts." She whined.
I handed her and Advil and a glass of water, watching her take the medicine. "Do you want me to make you some scrambled eggs?" I asked her, in which she nodded in reply. I quickly cooked the food for her, and she sat down at the table as far away from Gabe as possible.
I sighed. This was going to be a rough week. Ari picked at her food, still only eating a little bit, before standing up and throwing the rest away. Gabe noticed this, and had a guilty look of his face.
"Xavier I'm tired, I'm going to bed." She said. "Make sure you brush your teeth well." I said. She groaned. "It hurts way too much to brush." She whined. I sighed. "Do you want me to do it Ari?" I asked her. She nodded, and we went up to the bathroom.
She sat on the counter, waiting for me. "I'm just gonna use the water pick first, okay princess?" I said to her. She leaned over the sink, and I used the water pick to wash out all the food stuck in her braces.
I then used her toothbrush and toothpaste to gently clean her teeth and braces. "Spit." I told her.
She spat the toothpaste in the sink, and I handed her a cup of water for her to rinse her mouth out with. Soon she was done, and I carried her to her room, setting her down on the bed.
"No matter what, me and Gabe love you very much." I told her. She nodded sleepily, and I kissed her forehead before leaving her room.