Chapter two is here! Just want to mention, I do go to the dentist, hate it, but I do. Everyone should make sure they do. If you are afraid of them, just take someone you trust with you. But maybe make sure that person is okay with them! Lol! This is no reflection on dentists. The ones I have known are usually very nice, and kind people. No hate on dentists intended!
As always, I don't own the characters. I just try to return them mostly unharmed.
As always, read, review, and be kind! Last chapter will be up tomorrow!
The panoramic x-ray was the least of Clara's worries. The heavy lead apron that Karen gave her with a cheerful explanation of which side went out actually felt comforting to her small shoulders as she stood perfectly still for the machine revolving around her head. There was a whir and a click, then it was over. Once receiving the go ahead from Karen, she stepped away on wobbly knees and gave back the apron reluctantly. Next was the part she hated.
"Well done, Miss Oswald. Next we get the bite scans done, then we will start cleaning."
"Alright," Clara managed to respond, heading back to the patient room. She frowned as she realized the Doctor had been standing in the doorway watching them. His faced seemed agitated, but he did not say anything. She threw him a warning glance, and he raised both hands and eyebrows in surrender and returned to his seat. Karen moved around the room in a flurry, laying out objects on the counter, then with a smile and a "Be right Back!" she left; Clara and the Doctor the only ones remaining in the deafening silence.
"You okay?" He asked simply.
She leaned back into the chair, her eyes focused on the bright light overhead. Not trusting her voice to answer him without shaking, she folded her hands across her lap and waited for Karen to return. Somehow, the blood had left her fingers entirely and they ached with cold that she could feel permeating her shirt against her stomach.
Her guardian rested a hand in his chin, watching quietly, his eyes catching the slight shake of her pale hands; his sensitive ears catching the halting breathing that clearly indicated she was nervous of afraid.
He didn't catch the words that the hygienist spoke as he watched her come back and brightly explain something to his Clara while holding something plastic and blue. But when she started to stuff it into Clara's jaw, it caught his full attention.
"Oi!" He leapt to his feet again, causing both Clara and Karen to jump at the loud exclamation. "Her eyes are massive, but her mouth is not! What are you trying to cram in there? A small planet?" His voice was dangerously pitched, and his eyes were flashing, daring Karen to give him an answer.
Clara pulled the object from her mouth, handing it to the hygienist, grateful for a moment's reprieve. Impulsively, she snapped her fingers and pointed at him. "Down, Doctor. Now. You promised."
Looking from Clara to Karen, he frowned. "But your face- you were grimacing – in pain -what is that?" The Doctor pointed at the object Karen held, not meeting her suspicious gaze.
"Never been to a dentist before." Clara whispered at her, and a knowing smile crossed Karen's face.
"Ah, well, sir, this object is a bite-wing x-ray. This side goes against the gums, and the patient bites down on this little plastic tab, here. That's why it is called a bite-wing. They can be slightly painful as the skin on the gums is very thin and the plastic can press against the bone quite firmly. But they only take a moment and give the dentist a clear view of the teeth structure so we can catch any abnormalities before they become major problems, and will leave no lasting damage."
He nodded, still unsatisfied with the explanation. These bite-wings, quite frankly, sounded painful. Catching a glimpse of Clara's furious face, he filed away the confrontation for another time, threw up his hands in surrender and began to move back to his chair. "Primitive pudding-brains." Clara heard him mutter to himself.
"Oi!" She snapped her fingers again. "Sit."
He nodded amicably, and crossed his legs and his arms, determined to sit out the rest of the appointment. This was the most outdated medical equipment he had ever seen in his long life. The Tardis itself would laugh at such primitive tools.
By the time that the actual cleaning was ready to begin, Clara's nerves were shot. Karen was really nice and kind, but the fact that the x-rays had discovered a cavity in her upper left molar, and also one in her lower right molar, made her feel positively ill. This was her absolute worst nightmare, and the reason she had not wanted to come in the first place. She did not have good genetics when it came to teeth and sometimes wished she could skip the dentist thing altogether. But then she would not have any teeth at all, and that was an equally sickening thought.
Clara gazed up at the old ceiling above her, squinting as the dentist's bright spotlight shone into her face. She dared a sideways glance at the Doctor, who still sat mutely in his chair in the corner. He was looking at the teeth dissection posters on the wall, and for a moment she simply watched him, kind of wishing that he were sitting closer. She might just ask to hold his hand.
Foolish girl, she reprimanded herself. "Not your boyfriend." She heard his gruff voice in her mind and swallowed hard. No, maybe not. But a very dear friend. An annoying one, much like a grandpa would be. Except she did not get the one that was always stuck in the past. She got the one who was stuck in the future, his wisdom and experience extending way further than the current century. At least she wasn't alone.
Her eyes softened as she watched the kind old man trying his hardest to be a good friend and not the typically impulsive Doctor, his hands fidgeting nervously in his lap, as he was not used to just sitting still for extended period of time. His foot tapped a quick rhythm on the tile, and he shifted in the chair to look out the window. It was adorable in a way. But she realized, in that moment of truth, that she would not like him to be that way forever. The impulsive Doctor was who he really and truly was, and a simple dentist appointment was not going to change that in the slightest. But she desperately needed him to be good a little bit longer because she couldn't take much more drama.
When the hygienist announced it was time to begin the actual dental cleaning, the Doctor turned to resume his watch over his companion, catching a glimpse of fear in Clara's eyes as she quickly shifted her gaze from his direction to the ceiling. His eyebrows frowned, but he remained seated.
The whirring of the spinning toothbrush took up the next fifteen minutes of Clara's attention, as she tried desperately not to punch Karen in the face while she flossed the rows of teeth, and tried not to strangle on the vast drizzle of rinse water poured into her mouth. The grit of the toothpaste polish somehow never went with the rinse and stayed between her individual teeth as if she had eaten a mouthful of sand. Her jaws ached from holding them open so wide, and the smell of the cleanness in the air was making it hard to breathe through her nose.
"Just going to go ahead and drown." She thought to herself, counting the tiles in the ceiling for the hundredth time to keep from awkwardly looking right into Karen's eyes as she leaned over her. The taste of strong toothpaste combined with latex gloves was making Clara want to gag, and every time Karen tried to suction her collective spit and rinse water from her mouth, her tongue nearly went with it as well as all of the air in her lungs. Five years, she vowed to herself. She would not be back for at least five years. Forget six months. Maybe she would never come back again.
Relief flooded her entire body as Karen's hands were eventually removed from her mouth and she announced that the dentist would come in and review the cleaning and begin the fillings. Clara nodded mutely, rubbing her jaws, as Karen left in a flurry of white coat and the smell of toothpaste. Clara and the Doctor were left alone again.
He stood quietly, hands in his pockets, head bowed slightly and tilted to the left, watching her. She finally looked up from her moment of self-pity and gave him a weak smile.
"What's wrong?" He asked gently.
Part of her wanted to snap at him to sit down and leave her alone. Seriously, why had she agreed to bring him along. Why had she skipped going to see purple rain for this? Foolish him, foolish her.
"Gums hurt." She mumbled, crossing her arms, hiding her cold hands that still betrayed her fear with their shaking.
"I'm sorry." He spoke simply, his voice low and gravelly in the still room.
She nodded. "Yeah, me too." She looked away, studying the wall where a poster of a dissected tooth showed what a cavity would look like if left untreated. She grimaced.
He took a step forward and she held up a hand. "Doctor, please. No heroics. I do not want to be crying when they come back in her."
He tilted his head the other direction, eyebrows furrowing slightly in concern, but he nodded. Reaching out, he took the hand she had raised in his, feeling her tug slightly to take it back, but he did not relinquish it. The fingers he held were like ice, and it startled him for a moment. Looking down at the pale skin and white nails, he held them between his own. The warmth radiated into her skin, a comforting feeling. She was sure he was sending some type of telepathic signals to her brain, but she was too afraid to pay attention to them. She sighed and rested her head back against the chair.
"Anywhere you want to go."
She frowned and looked up at the calm grey eyes. "What?"
"We will go anywhere you want to go, as soon as they let us out of here."
She sighed and closed her eyes. "We aren't prisoners, Doctor. Its just an appointment. I just – hate dentists."
His eyebrows rose in surprise, and he responded dryly. "Really, hadn't noticed." He emphasized the last word with a smug grin, trying to drive the fear from those dark eyes. It worked a little, and she chuckled.
"You daft old man." She playfully smacked his arm again, and he let go of her hand.
"Oi, what is it with the hitting, no more hitting!" His tone was deeply Scottish, and reprimanding, and she patted his arm in apology. He gave her his kindest smile. Her eyes were still terrified, how could he not be kind?
At that moment, the cheerful dentist popped in, all smiles and disinfectant. Clara did not notice the Doctor move away, as she was too busy swallowing down her nerves.
He stepped quickly from the room while Clara was distracted with the hygienist and dentist. He did not like how nervous they were making Clara, but he was smart enough to know that she did need the help. But he also knew of a dentist on a far planet that could do it much easier and much less dangerously. He would ask Clara when her next appointment was and take her there himself when the time came. It would be a cold day in hell before he let her come back to this primitive establishment. He made a mental note and headed toward the entrance, glancing suspiciously at the x ray machine as he hurried past it.
Shoving open the door at the end of the hall, he came face to face with the receptionist. Her blue eyes widened in surprise at the intensity in his facial expression. Those eyebrows had stared down enemies of the planet (although she did not know that!) and right now, he needed one thing.
"Oi, your computer, now." He demanded, moving past her and sitting down determinedly at her desk, and glancing around for something. With a pleased hmph, he found the mouse and began clicking away on her desktop.
She frowned at him in shock and put her hands on her hips. "Just who are you, and what do you think you are doing in my chair!?"
The grey-haired Scotsman shoved away from the desk and whirled around and around on her office chair, looking like a scarecrow in a gale, before finally stopping facing the confused lady. "Fun, should do that more often. I like fun. Fun is good. You. I need the address, or link, or whatever you humans call it, to the nearest limo service, and I need it - right now."