Page 6 of Picking Pismo

“Neither did I.” David added without missing a beat. With the correct key found, he opened the door and flipped on the lights to the lobby. “Come on in.” He held the door open, allowing them to enter. “I’ll survey the damage.”

Passing through the door, Claire said, “Thanks for meeting us on such short notice.” She wrung her hands together. “I hope we aren’t keeping you from your family.” She gnawed on her bottom lip.

“Nope,” David shook his head. He motioned toward the exam room. “I live alone.” He flipped on the lights. “You saved me from a long boring morning of Saturday cartoons.” Once at the nearest exam chair, he rested his hands on the head rest. “You can sit here, Alexis.”

With the rag still pressed to her mouth, Alexis lowered herself into the chair. “You don’t really still watch cartoons… do you?” She raised an eyebrow.

David turned on the overhead exam light, moving it directly over Alexis’s mouth. “Of course, I do.” Smiling, he gazed over at Claire while he said, “You’re never too old to watch cartoons.”

“Aren’t you like thirty plus?” asked Alexis.

“Alexis,” Claire hissed. She closed her eyes for a moment, then patted Alexis on the shoulder. Directing herself to Alexis, Claire continued, “You can’t ask things like that.” Claire met David’s gaze. “Besides, I think Dr. Clark is only teasing you.”

Alexis rolled her eyes. “Okay, sorry,” muttered Alexis.

“Now, enough about my TV watching habits, and how I’m way past my prime. Why don’t you slowly remove the rag?” David sat down in the swivel chair next to Alexis, grabbing some latex gloves out of the box. He put them on. Claire pulled up one of the other nearby chairs and sat on the other side of Alexis, across from David. “Let me see the damage.”

Alexis removed the rag, revealing a swollen and bloody lip. Her top four braces were firmed jammed into her top lip.

“Oh no, ouch.” David gasped, drastically. “I hope you’ll live.”

Alexis’s eyes bulged. Her gaze darted to Claire then back to David.

Waving it off, gingerly, David widened her mouth with his fingers. “I’m kidding.” David peered closer at her teeth and lip. “This is completely fixable. Your lip will take a while to heal, but there doesn’t appear to be any damage to your teeth which should be a huge relief. You’re going to get to keep all of them.”

Claire sighed, leaning back in her chair. “Thank heavens.” Her hand flew to her heart. “I nearly passed out when Alexis showed me her lip.”

David caught the train track lines across Claire’s forehead slowly easing away. “It always looks worse than it really is.” David reverted his attention back to Alexis. “I’m going to need to numb up your lip before I remove these braces stuck in it. Then I’ll replace them with new ones. The whole thing should only take an hour or so.”

Alexis started to cry. “I’m so glad.” She swiped at her eyes. “The last thing I needed was to be toothless too.”

“No, no, nothing like that.” David patted her shoulder. “You get to keep all your teeth. And when you get these braces off in six months, you’ll have a beautiful smile. Let me go grab the numbing medicine and other tools I need, and I’ll be right back.”

David left and went into the room where the dental instruments were sanitized and stored. He gathered the ones he needed along with the numbing medicine. When he returned to the group exam room, Alexis and Claire were laughing.

David set his instruments down on the side table. He smiled, “I can see you’re both in better spirits.” He lowered himself onto his swivel stool.

Alexis swiped at the tears running down her face. “Yes, now that I know I’m not going to end up as a toothless teenager, you could say I’m doing better.”

Claire continued to chuckle. “Sorry, this is just the first time we’ve laughed about anything in the past several weeks.” With a hand over her belly, her laughing slowly subsided. She swiped at her eyes too. “I’m glad Alexis is going to be okay.” She gave Alexis’s shoulder a quick squeeze.

“Me too,” added David.

Then he shot Alexis up with the anesthetic. Once her lip was numb, he removed the braces and replaced them with new ones. The process was fast and easy. But David found himself having a hard time concentrating with Claire only a few feet away from him. He forced himself not to glance over at her, not once, not even when he felt her eyes on him. But then again, where else was she going to look? So, David tried not to flatter himself too much.

“You can go ahead and sit up.” David pressed the button to raise the back of the dental chair. “I’m done.”

Once the chair returned to its low position, Alexis swung her legs over the side. “Thank you, Dr. Clark.” She wiggled her mouth a little. “My mouth feels so weird.” Lightly, Alexis touched her lip.

“Be careful.” David stripped his gloves off, gathering up all the used instruments on the metal tray. “Remember, you can’t eat anything until the numbness has gone away completely. You don’t want to add a bitten cheek to your list of injuries.”

Claire stood, gripping her purse. “And how long does it usually take for her mouth to feel normal again?”

“A few hours.” David rose too, walking over to a back table, he placed the used instruments in the bin to be cleaned. “Everyone’s a little different, but you should be fine by the time lunch rolls around.”

Alexis stood. “But, I’m already hungry,” she whined.

Claire tilted her head, touching her on the shoulder. “I think you’ll manage to survive.”

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