Obi And The Root Canal
Disclaimer: see chapter 1.
Chapter 3
On Friday, Obi-Wan once again went with Qui-Gon to Dr. Harrod's office. The taste of the clove oil had remained with him the entire time, and Obi-Wan was more than ready to get this over with. When he took his seat in the chair, Qui-Gon stayed in the room with him, just in case. Still, the young Padawan remained calm as Dr. Harrod removed the temporary filling. "Looks like I can't put in the root filling this time, son," Dr. Harrod said, shaking his head. Then he pulled out one of the wires again. Obi-Wan grimaced, seeing it.
"Would you like me to give you a local? The infection is cleared up enough that I can do that this time," the dentist said, seeing Obi-Wan's reluctance to let the work go ahead. The young Padawan nodded, despite assurances from Qui-Gon that the wires would be nothing compared to the shot required for receiving an anaesthetic. So, Dr. Harrod pinched some cotton off a large wad, covered it in a white gel, and stuck it up under Obi-Wan's upper lip where the shot would be given. "Alright," he said. "We're just going to give that a moment to start working."
Obi-Wan's eyes lit up at the taste of the anaesthetic. Spearmint! It was the young Jedi's favourite flavour. A minute later, though, the flavour was gone and there was just numbness. And that's when Dr. Harrod pulled out the largest needle Obi-Wan had ever seen. The young Padawan began hyperventilating immediately, despite Qui-Gon sending numerous comforting thoughts to him through the Force, along with an occasional 'What did I tell you?' Still, the needle went in, and within another standard minute, most of Obi-Wan's face was very numb.
So it was that for the remainder of the visit, Obi-Wan just held his mouth open like a good little patient and did whatever Dr. Harrod needed of him. Once again Dr. Harrod put in the wire screws, scraping out the inside of Obi-Wan's tooth. And once again he lined it, putting in a temporary filling. "There we go. How's Tuesday for the next appointment?" Qui-Gon nodded. "That will be fine. Eleven hundred hours, again?" Dr. Harrod nodded, the appointment was made, and Qui-Gon escorted Obi-Wan out into the street.
At the moment, Obi-Wan was feeling pretty good. The drugs were still in effect. He was feeling no pain at the moment. The sun was shining. It was a beautiful day. At least, the day was as beautiful as a day could get on Coruscant. So, Obi-Wan decided that instead of going straight back to the Jedi Temple, he wanted to go for a walk through Monument Square. Knowing the drugs would wear off soon, Qui-Gon obliged his young apprentice.
First they stopped at a refreshment stand, each getting something to drink. But Obi-Wan couldn't seem to get his drink down. The taste of the clove oil prevented it. Then he tried a chocolate donut. It didn't help any, either. Finally, Obi-Wan was resigned to his fate as he and Qui-Gon returned to their rooms in the Temple. The taste of clove oil was just not going to go away. To Obi-Wan, it seemed, he just never had a chance against the Force forsaken stuff.
