Obi And The Root Canal
Disclaimer: see chapter 1.
Chapter 2
For the next week, Obi followed Dr. Harrod's advice. And exactly one week after the first visit, Obi was in the chair again for the beginning of what promised to be a very painful procedure. "Please knock me out," he begged. And so it happened for the next several minutes. Dr. Harrod would explain to him why he wouldn't feel a pain. Obi would come up with a new reason for why he should be knocked out, amongst them that he would hyperventilate throughout the entire procedure. By the time Qui-Gon was brought in to calm him down, Obi was even crying.
Dr. Harrod began the explanation all over again when the Jedi Master arrived. "Listen," he said. "Here's what I've been trying to explain to him. The tooth is dead. It's as dead as a tropical plant on Tatooine. Yes, the tooth has two sets of nerves. One, the dead one, is what fills in the tooth. With it dead, bacteria have set in and caused it to abscess. The other, however, is just up here," he said, pointing to the upper gums.
"This nerve is only activated by pressure. And that is the only reason he'd feel any pain, is from pressure. If you use a high speed drill and press lightly, there is no pressure, and therefore, no pain. Watch this," he said, pulling out a bit, attaching it to the drill. Turning it on, he pressed it against his finger. "See? It's making a dent in my finger, and there's no pain. Now, either we can do this, or you'll have to go to a hospital, or you lose the tooth. Quite frankly I'd like to get this over with as quickly as possible, and I'm sure you'll agree."
Resigned to his fate, Obi-Wan opened his mouth for Dr. Harrod, though he continued to hyperventilate, and tears continued to go down his face completely out of fear. By the time the drill had started to enter his tooth, Obi was even whimpering. "Shhhh. You're not feeling any pain. If you were, you'd be flinching." Qui-Gon just nodded. "A Jedi knows no pain, Padawan. A Jedi knows no pain." Obi-Wan didn't mind that they were talking to him like he was a child. After all, that was what he was acting like. But what bothered Obi was that his Master was reciting that damned line over and over and over again.
"See? That wasn't so bad, now was it?" Dr. Harrod asked, finished with the drilling. Obi just remained silent as his tormenter pulled out a then screw-type wire. "Open wide. This won't hurt a bit," Dr. Harrod said, sticking the wire into Obi's tooth. Obi-Wan began screaming in pain, though, and Qui-Gon had to use the Force to keep him still. Dr. Harrod inserted the wire, twisted, and pulled it out several times, each time bringing out gunk and dead nerves.
"Alright, all done," he said, finally. Obi breathed a sigh of relief. What had only been five minutes had seemed like forever for the poor Padawan. "Now I'm just going to put in a temporary filling with some disinfectant and we'll make an appointment to get this over with." With that he stuffed a bit of cotton into the tooth and a small enamel piece to hold it in. "Now, this may taste bad. It's got oil of cloves on it. But it'll help keep any new pain at bay and help disinfect the abscess. There you go, son, your tooth is now saved for life. All we have to do now is make an appointment to finish the job."
Obi was quick to jump out of his chair. "Thank you, Doctor," Qui said. "When shall we make the next appointment?" "Well," the dentist replied, "I'd like to make it more than four days but less than a week. How about Saturday?" Qui frowned. "Friday would be better," he said. "Say, around eleven-hundred hours?" Dr. Harrod nodded. "Friday at 1100 it is," he agreed. "See you then."
A/N- I apologize for the delay, folks. Naturally, I was shocked and saddened by the events of Tuesday, September 11th. I didn't feel I could write until now. Though I'm in England, I'm still proud to be an American, and I hope that whomever orchestrated these events will be brought to justice very soon.
