Shego was used to pain. Growing up with brothers usually meant roughhousing. After the comet hit, her pain tolerance only increased. She fought an entire battle with Kim Possible with a broken clavicle and shoulder before she noticed, or rather, Drakken noticed how her arm didn't look right. She has fallen from great heights, been electrocuted, punched, kicked and stabbed more times than she could count. Yet, she stands.
Luckily, again thanks to the comet, she heals quickly, requiring very minor medical intervention. Usually, she's back at it in a day or so. All her shoulder and clavicle needed was to be set properly and it was healed by the end of the week.
So, when the back of her gums began to hurt, she ignored it.
For many people, Shego can be mysterious and aloof. After many years of knowing her, Drakken began to see the minor tells she gave away. If she's upset, she can be found curled up reading the same book, The Awakening by Kate Chopin. He's probably seen her read it five times, she must have it memorized. When she's angry and not wanting to express it, the radio in her car would be turned to deafening levels. When she was thinking about her father, she listened to Fleetwood Mac. Shego is a meat and potatoes kind of girl, so when Drakken saw his wife avoiding certain foods, including her very favorite and very dark chocolate bars, he knew something was up.
"Steph, when was the last time you saw a dentist?" Drakken asked as Shego struggled with a bowl of cereal and fruit.
"Last year." She countered proudly, knowing she had him. You weren't much of a superhero/villain sidekick/whatever the heck her job description was now if you didn't take care of yourself.
"Great, then you're due for a checkup!" Drakken beamed.
"Wait, what? Oh, damnit!" She yelled, banging her fist on the table, the dinnerware clattering. She didn't have him.
"Make yourself an appointment," Drakken said kissing her temple.
Shego put it off for a more days before the pain in her gums became just shy of unbearable. Begrudgingly, she scheduled an appointment with her dentist/orthodontist that she had been seeing for years.
Drakken was in his lab typing up a proposal for GJ to let him build a Hadron Collider, (did he think he would get one? Probably not, but a man can dream) when his phone rang.
"Yello!" He answered, leaning back in his chair.
"Do you have a couple of days you can take off?" It was Shego and she sounded defeated.
Drakken looked over his shoulder at his latest project. He resurrected a Spinosaurus he named Paul and they did not get along. Paul was curled up on a dog bed meant for a Great Dane and happily chewing on what was a shark thirty minutes ago.
"I've got some free days. What's wrong?" Concern laced his voice.
"It's my wisdom teeth. All four need to be removed. Tomorrow morning. They're impacted or something. I need someone to take care of me." Shego struggled with that last bit. She never enjoyed asking for help.
"Of course, you don't even have to ask."
"Thanks," Shego said before she hung up. Drakken wasn't surprised. It wasn't often he got the full, 'love you, bye' call, especially when she was upset.
That night, as Shego sat at the dining room table, she read her instructions aloud as Drakken prepared dinner.
"'For the sedation, you need to be fasting." She read, "Nothing past midnight before your surgery. You are prescribed half of a fast-acting anti-anxiety pill to keep your nerves down prior to surgery." She held the nearly empty bottle in her hand, "Take it before you leave home with as little water as possible. Plan to be on bed rest for a few days. No driving until you know how the painkillers effect you. No hard, sticky or crunchy foods, no straws', blah blah blah. This sounds horrible." Shego ranted, wanting to burn the papers.
Drakken chuckled, "No one said it would be fun," he said as he served her.
"I know that you idiot." She scowled.
"Eat up. You have to fast." Drakken grinned, pushing her plate a bit closer.
The next morning, Shego came down the stairs in comfy clothes, no makeup and her black hair pulled back. She brushed, rinsed and flossed her teeth as best she could, per her dentist's instructions. She wasn't looking forward to the no brushing rule for the next few days to prevent dislodging the blood clots at the surgical sites.
Drakken felt butterflies in his stomach when he saw that she was wearing one of his sweaters. It engulfed her svelte frame, but oh, it did things to him.
He got her a glass of water with barely any in it for her pre-surgery medicine.
"Bottoms up," Shego said as she placed the pill on her tongue and swallowed it without the water.
Damn, he thought, she's still so cool. Cooler than he could ever be.
"Let's go!" Drakken said cheerfully, hoping to ease any nerves she may have. Shego only smirked as she grabbed her purse headed out the door.
Drakken got into the driver's seat. "Seatbelt." He chided Shego.
Shego rolled her eyes and put her seatbelt on. She knew he wouldn't drive off if she didn't.
The effects of the medication hit her quickly. She fought to stay awake on the way to her appointment.
Drakken noticed but didn't think much of it until they arrived.
"Drew…" Shego called as he got out of the Jeep.
He came around to the passenger side and found her hanging onto the door, her legs useless. "I can't walk."
Drakken threw her arm over his shoulder and wrapped his arm around her waist, helping her into the office.
"I must be a lightweight," Shego said, her voice soft with drowsiness.
"You've never done anything?" Drakken asked skeptically, "Even I have smoked pot."
"No!" Shego slurred, "I was a teen superhero and my dad would have killed me!"
After struggling to open the door to the clinic and keeping Shego secure, Drakken sat her in a chair in the waiting room and checked her in. Shego promptly curled up in the chair and went to sleep.
Drakken sat down next to her, drumming his hands on his knees.
A dental assistant in mint colored scrubs called her name a short time afterward, "Stephanie Lipsky."
"Right here!" Drakken called, helping Shego up and towards the assistant.
"She's a bit out of it," Drakken said, as they were ushered out of the waiting room.
"It's completely normal. I'm Angela, I'll be assisting Dr. Morgan today." She was sure to speak to Drakken and Shego both, even if the latter was somewhere between asleep and awake. "Follow me and we'll get her comfortable."
Drakken dutifully followed her into the exam room and helped Shego into the chair, never letting go of her hand. Angela placed a finger monitor on one of Shego's fingers. As her vitals came up on the monitor, Drakken noticed they were as strong and healthy as ever.
"Good morning!" A tall and cheerful bald man said as he entered the room, "I'm Dr. Bryan Wells, I'm the anesthetist charged with keeping Stephanie comfortable and asleep with the procedure." He shook Drakken's hand.
"Did you have any questions or did Stephanie?" Dr. Wells asked.
"No, thank you," Drakken replied.
"I'll walk you back to the waiting room," Angela said to Drakken as Dr. Wells began prepping for IV. Drakken kissed Shego's cheek before he was ushered out.
Drakken returned to his seat and waited. He scrolled mindlessly through Villainstagram but his mind kept drifting back to Shego, hoping she was doing okay. He squirmed in his chair, trying to get comfortable, the other patients and family members staring at him.
What if she woke up before the doctor was done?
What if she stopped breathing?
Her veins never responded well to IVs, how many times did they have to poke and prod her? Drakken idly scratched his neck. The scar-like veins he now had, came from a failed experiment to make veins more visible, temporarily of course. You weren't a good scientist if you weren't willing to be the first volunteer.
He would jump every time he heard drills and other instruments being used, comparing it all to medieval torture.
'Pull yourself together you idiot. What are you going to do when she has your kid?' Drakken thought. He froze.
They have discussed having kids, but it was a future prospect. Honestly, he was surprised it hadn't happened sooner. Sure, they had Athena at one point, but a flesh and blood child was totally different. If Drakken couldn't handle the thought of his wife going through a routine dental surgery, how would he react to seeing Shego in pain from labor? He'd faint; out cold on the floor with the labor and delivery team stepping over his lame body, and probably one of his brothers-in-law turning him to a meme, that's how.
Knowing that he had to calm down, Drakken settled himself as much as he could and waited.
He got a text from one of his lab assistants saying that Paul was a female and had destroyed the server room.
'The name stays. Rebuild the servers.' He replied. Normally such destruction would send him into a manic frenzy, but he had more important matters to tend to.
"Mr. Lipsky." Angela called sometime later, startling Drakken, "Your wife is out of surgery, you can come back."
Drakken jumped out of his seat.
She led the scientist to the recovery room. Shego was reclined back a comfy recliner with a blanket, asleep. Drakken was surprised that she looked okay. He had imagined the worst in the waiting room. She was a bit swollen and her mouth was packed, but no black eyes, no oozing blood. He sat down next to her and gently moved a stray hair from her eyes.
"We'll keep an eye on her for about thirty minutes or so just to make sure she's doing okay."
Drakken nodded, more focused on Shego.
The doctor came in. "Mr. Lipsky, a pleasure to meet you, sir." Dr. Morgan said, shaking Drakken's hand "It was a textbook operation. Since she is older than most removal patients, we needed to perform a bone graft also."
"Bone graft?!" Drakken echoed.
The doctor smiled, "It's not nearly as scary as it sounds. We simply took donor material and grafted it into her jaw to give her second molars the stability that the wisdom teeth once provided. She responded well to the anesthesia, all her vitals are strong and remained as such throughout the procedure. She had no dry sockets. The teeth had yet to fully erupt, which is a good thing. It would have messed up all the dental work she had done in the past. I did have to cut her gums to remove the teeth, but after she heals, she won't have any more problems."
He gave Drakken her aftercare instructions which the scientist carefully read over until Shego was discharged.
"Stephanie, sweetie, it's time to wake up," Angela cooed.
If Shego would have been fully conscious, she would not have let anyone call her sweetie, but she stirred, slightly.
Angela gently took the blanket off her to which Shego opened her eyes. She looked around the room for a moment. "Is it over?" She asked, her voice muffled by gauze.
"All over!" Angela confirmed.
Shego stretched in the chair.
"What are you looking at?" She said to Drakken, who was relieved that she was okay. She went to take the gauze out of her mouth.
"No, no, no!" Angela said, but Drakken grabbed Shego's hand before she could.
"You need to keep those until this afternoon at least," Angela instructed.
"I'll keep an eye on her," Drakken assured. Shego gave him the stink eye.
"She's all ready to go. I'll get her a wheelchair and her medication."
She was prescribed strong painkillers, an antibiotic, and anti-inflammatory. Drakken was suspicious as to why the bottles were only half full but remember that Shego had been seeing Dr. Morgan for years and he likely knew that she healed at an accelerated rate.
"Off like a herd of turtles," Drakken said, more to himself as he wheeled Shego back to their car.
"I can't suck anything for a few days. Sorry" Shego lamented.
It took Drakken a second to understand what she meant. Oh. That.
"I'm sure we'll both get through it fine." He blushed.
He gently placed Shego, who had already fallen back asleep, in the passenger's seat and buckled her seatbelt. He resisted the urge to keep the wheelchair for joyrides and returned it.
As they made their way home, Shego's head dropped and she began to drool bloody saliva.
"Steph…" Drakken prompted, trying to wake her up.
Nothing.
"Stephanie." He tried again, louder, trying to focus on the road and his wife.
She was snoring.
His eyes darting from the road to Shego, he gently tipped her head to the side to avoid a mess. Even drooling, Shego looked intimidating.
When he made it home, Drakken picked her up bridal style and carried her to bed. He dabbed her mouth of any blood with a damp paper towel.
All he had to do now was wait until she woke up.
Hours later Shego woke up tucked into bed, her head elevated to a comfortable level. A heating pack was secured to her jaw, and a cool, damp cloth on her forehead, a glass of water and everything she could want or need on were at arm's reach on her bedside table.
Okay, he was a keeper.
Even Commodore Puddles came to check on her, sleep at the foot of the bed. Shego wouldn't be surprised if he was just attracted to the scent of blood.
Drakken was asleep in an armchair by the window, his legs and bare feet kicked up on the bed.
Shego kicked his feet a little harder than she meant to.
Drakken was instantly awake, ready to help his bride however she needed. "How are you feeling?" He asked as he yawned and rubbed his eyes.
Shego spat out fairly clean gauze which made her wonder if Drakken had changed it while she was asleep.
"Sleepy. Kinda weird."
"Any pain?"
"Sore."
"You should probably take something. Are you hungry? Everything needs to be on a full stomach."
Shego shrugged. "Whatever is fine."
He came back up with two bowls of mashed potatoes with cheddar and sour cream on a breakfast tray and two glasses of juice. Shego was a fiend for Diet Coke, but carbonated beverages were off the menu for a few days.
Drakken sat down on his side of the bed, fluffed his pillows as Shego scrolled through Netflix. They watched a silly movie that they had both long since memorized and ate their dinner. Drakken wasn't about to scarf down a burger until Shego was able to.
After they were finished, Drakken took the plates back downstairs as Shego gently rinsed her mouth.
Still sleepy from the sedation, Shego curled up against her husband as they returned to bed. She didn't make it more than five minutes. Carefully, he turned the TV off and laid down beside her. He fell asleep, ready to care for her for the next few days.
Was this weird? I think it was weird. If anything seems that way, it's likely because I'm basing a lot of it on my own wisdom teeth experience. It wasn't a good one in retrospect. He wound up on national news for his terrible practices. I'll let you look that one up. He didn't run his clinic like he should have to say the least. Now I feel weird that I brought that up. Oh well.